Starting Over
by maraudersworstmemory
Summary: AU fic. It's July, 1986 and Sirius has been released from Azkaban. With the help of Remus, they decide that they're up for the task of taking care of a young Harry Potter. Non-Slash. Rated T for occasional swearing. Harry Potter and it's related contents belong to J.K. Rowling.
1. Chapter 1

**July, 1986**

A thin, young man stood stone faced next to an older man with a flowing grey beard. The older man was instantly recognized as Albus Dumbledore. He was Headmaster at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry; famous in his own right prior to becoming Headmaster, he had taken on a larger than life stance nearly six years ago when Lord Voldemort was defeated by an infant.

The young man that stood next to Dumbledore looked to be overwhelmed about being in front of a crowd. His sandy brown hair moved with the wind, and he squinted his eyes towards the sun and flashing lights of reporter's cameras. His robes were well worn; he had insisted to Dumbledore that he didn't need a new set, that it was fine how it was. Standing in front of this crowd of thirty or more reporters from around the world, however, made him feel self-conscious.

His ears perked as the man to Dumbledore's right continued to drone on. The young man tried to concentrate on what the Minister of Magic was saying, but it was hard. His stomach was in knots, and he wanted nothing more than to disappear.

A question from a reporter broke the young man's thoughts. "Minister Abramson, I understand that you're stating this young man, Remus Lupin, is the one that tracked down Peter Pettigrew and turned him over to authorities. Is Mr. Lupin an auror?"

The young man — now identified as Remus Lupin — felt his lips curl as if it was a sick joke. Remus was a werewolf; he was bitten at a young age. There was no way that he'd ever be able to be an auror. Although two of his best friends in the world were Aurors, Remus would never pass a background check. Werewolves were still heavily prosecuted for their existence.

Minister Abramson replied to the reporter, "It is our understanding that Mr. Lupin was able to identify Mr. Pettigrew, even though Mr. Pettigrew was heavily disguised and unrecognizable. Mr. Lupin did the correct thing and alerted authorities immediately."

Remus stole a glance at Dumbledore, who simply nodded. The new Minister of Magic was having a tumultuous first month as Minister. This was the third Minister of Magic since the end of the Great War in 1980, just five years ago. The first Minister was arrested and tried as a Death Eater, a supporter of Lord Voldemort. The second Minister was found dead in his house just three months prior; while there was no official cause or reason announced yet, Remus had a sick feeling that it was due to his heavy prosecution of those who supported legislation to ban muggle-born wizards and witches from school.

The Great War had caused much instability in everyone's lives. While several years had passed, the war had taken its toll on families. Remus had lost everyone he was close to. Thought to be a spy during the war, Remus had systematically been shut out of many of his friends lives…, even those he would have died for.

Remus felt a sharp pang in his chest. Lily Potter had been one of his closest confidants since he was a young boy of 11, just starting school. She had married another close friend of his - James Potter. Together they had a son, Harry. Lily and James died protecting Harry from Lord Voldemort himself; in return, Harry defeated the Dark Lord. It didn't come without a price, however; Sirius Black, another close friend of Remus', was thought to be the reason that Lily and James and Harry all had their lives ripped apart. To make matters worse, Sirius then blew apart Remus' fourth and final close friend, Peter Pettigrew.

For punishment for his crimes, Sirius was spending the rest of his life in Azkaban. Or, so they had thought. Just a week prior, however, Remus was shopping at the ever popular Diagon Alley. He had spotted a red headed young man — Percy Weasley — carrying a rat around. A very recognizable rat, if you were Remus. Remus knew at once it was Peter, and called the authorities. Before Peter could get away, again, he was apprehended and arrested. Peter now awaited a fate worse than death; a dementor's kiss. His soul would be removed from his body, and he would be stuck with his pathetic existence until it was time for his physical body to die. At the age of 26, Peter Pettigrew was preparing for his last few days as truly human.

"Minister!" cried out a reporter. "What are the Ministry's plans for Sirius Black now that it is found that he is innocent?"

The Minister shifted uncomfortably. Since it was announced yesterday that Peter Pettigrew had been located alive, the news was printing unhelpful things about the Ministry of Magic. Unfortunately when Sirius Black was captured, the Minister was in the hands of the Death Eaters. He threw Sirius Black, someone considered to be a traitor by those most loyal to Lord Voldemort, in the wizarding prison of Azkaban without a trial. No one had ever thought to have one; all accounts report that Black was simply mad at the scene. Looking back, Remus thought, it all made sense.

"Mr. Black is being released as we speak; he will be heading to an undisclosed location. The Ministry will be paying reparations to Mr. Black for the time he has spent in Azkaban, as well as any pain and suffering he may have experienced at our hands. Mr. Pettigrew will be receiving the kiss of the dementors today at 2:00."

A flash of photography bulbs went off, and a flurry of questions. The Minister's spokesperson ushered Minister Abramson out of the way. "That's enough questions for now!" he bellowed, as Remus and Dumbledore were escorted away from the speaking podium and down a long corridor.

After walking for what felt like ages, they entered the Minister's office. It was smaller than Remus expected for such a grand position, and it was severely outdated. The thing, however, that caught Remus' eye first was the silhouette of the person standing in the shadows, by the window. He would have recognized that shape anywhere.

"Remus. Albus." A voice came from the shadows as the door to the office closed. The Minister was sitting behind his desk, a strained look on his face.

Remus took two steps forward before stopping. "Sirius?" His voice held doubt in it, as if he almost couldn't believe his eyes and ears. Really, though, he couldn't. He never thought that he would see Sirius Black in the flesh again.

Sirius stepped forward into the light, and Remus felt his stomach knot once more. Sirius' face was thin. His hair was longer than Remus had ever seen it, and it was matted and knotted. Sirius had dark bags under his eyes, and a sinister smile. He looked truly untamed. He looked unhinged, in many ways. Azkaban had aged him; he looked closer to 40 than to 25. Remus felt unsure of the words to say.

"Sirius, how are you?" responded Albus Dumbledore. He too had taken several steps forward, but he stopped short of approaching Black completely. Dumbledore's blue eyes shone brightly, confident that this was going to end well. Remus felt less sure.

"I've been better," spat Sirius. Remus could practically feel the anger radiating off of him. "I want my god-son, Dumbledore. The Minister," Sirius sneered, "informs me that he is even unaware of Harry's location. The most famous wizard in the world, hidden from view."

The Minister's head perked up at the mention of his name. "Mr. Black, with all due respect, this meeting is to just formalize the terms of your release."

"It's a little late to fucking send me back, Minister." Black laughed maniacally. Remus shuddered; this felt like the scene that had been described by the news outlets when Sirius was arrested. The Minister recoiled in his seat as Sirius took the steps necessary to be in Remus' space.

Remus stared into Sirius' eyes for a moment, shuddering. He never thought he'd see his friend again. He never thought he'd see Sirius this angry, either. "I am sorry for what has happened to you," Remus muttered lowly.

Sirius' features softened, but not by much. He appeared to be hardened by his time spent in Azkaban. "I am sorry that I was foolish and thought it to be you."

Remus felt a pang in his heart. How lonely had it been to be the one that everyone thought was a spy. And how lonely it felt, to think that three of your best friends was murdered by another best friend's denial. And then to turn it around and realize that everything had been backwards.

"Harry is safe," Dumbledore stated, breaking Remus' train of thought. "There's much to discuss about his living situation. Here is not the place for the discussion. Would you like to finish with the Minister and then join Remus and I at Hogwarts?"

Sirius sneered, but conceded that it would be his best bet on ever seeing Harry again. Within the hour, Sirius was having his photo taken shaking the Minister's hand, a contract of reparations laying on the Minister's desk. The Minister looked like he could use a shot of firewhisky, or perhaps a bottle.

The three men headed for Dumbledore's office through the Minister's floo network after the Minister profusely thanked Dumbledore for his support throughout all of these arrangements today.

Remus felt exhausted when they arrived back at Hogwarts. The past three days had been emotionally exhausting, and a full moon was coming up. While there was the promise of a new potion to help make transformations less painful — wolfsbane, they called it — Remus didn't have access to it. When he was at Hogwarts, his friends were able to make the transformations better; they were still painful, but he at least had the support of those who loved him the most. The past six years, without any close friends to speak of, Remus had suffered greatly. He had been unable to hold down a job, and had been evicted half a dozen times when he was unable to pay rent. Remus had recently been thinking of returning to the werewolf community where he spent time undercover during the Great War.

Dumbledore took a seat behind his large desk. There were books, papers, and all sorts of magical items strewn across his office. Remus and Sirius both plopped into the seats in front of Dumbledore's desk; they'd been here before, but today it felt like it had been in a different lifetime.

"Sirius, I'm going to tell you about Harry's location, but it is a long story. Today has been a long day, and I would please like your word that you're not going to interrupt me while I'm telling it. I know that you have a lot of anger and a lot of questions, but I can't help you if you don't let me explain." Dumbledore's voice was caring, but his eyes twinkled with a spark that dared Sirius to argue. Sirius just shrugged and then nodded his head in understanding.

"Lily saved Harry's life that day by shielding him. She cast one of the most beautiful spells she could have, and it left a protection on him. For that protection charm to still work, Harry needs to be with his blood relatives—-"

"—-But!—-" Sirius took an elbow to the ribs from Remus. Even Remus hadn't heard this story from Dumbledore. His life was far too unstable to ever be considered safe enough to be near Harry. He was desperate for any information on the child who survived his two best friends.

Dumbledore's eyes glinted with anger for a moment, before he decided to continue. "As I was saying, he is with his blood relatives. Lily had a sister, Petunia. She had married by the time Harry was born; they have a child his age as well. He is safe there from all harm that could possibly come to him."

"I know that Lily and James intended for you to raise Harry, however I'm not sure if that's possible. He needs to be near to Petunia at least once a year to ensure that the protection charm works. There's still a lot of people out there who would likely rejoice in Harry's demise." Sirius shifted uncomfortably, but remained silent. Remus ran his hand over his face; he wished that this was all a dream.

"I don't think that it would be good for you to see Harry in this current state of yours. You're angry, and you need to think about your own health." Remus looked over at his former friend — current friend? — and watched as Sirius gritted his teeth. Remus snorted; Sirius so disagreed with Dumbledore.

"With all due respect, Albus," Sirius said defiantly. He had no intention of stopping, either, it seemed. "I am angry because _you_ are the one that forced them in to hiding. _You_ are the one that promised it would be okay. _You_ are the one that thought I'd be too obvious. _I would have died for them!_ " Remus stole a glance at Sirius, and watched a tear streak down his cheek. For the first time today, Sirius seemed… human. "I would like to have custody of my god son."

Dumbledore removed his spectacles from his face, and rubbed his eyes with two long fingers. "I suppose it would be possible for Harry to just visit with his aunt and uncle yearly, but I still do not feel that you're ready and able to care for him at this time."

"Let me try." Remus looked into Dumbledore's eyes, willing him to let Sirius try. There was no doubt in Remus' mind that if Sirius could endure all of what he had for the past six years, he would probably be the most equipped person to handle whatever else life threw at him. Even if that "whatever else" was an almost six year old boy.

Dumbledore sighed a heavy sigh. Remus could tell that he didn't like this idea at all. "You can retrieve the boy in ten days time, on his sixth birthday. Provided that you have a clean, safe living environment for him."

Sirius jumped from his chair, joyful, shouting and carrying on as if he were a teenager again. The lines that had seemed to be etched onto his face from stress all seemed to disappear. He looked to his friend Remus, who seemed to be a little bemused by the scene. "Alright, Rem! Will you help me get my family's house in order?"

Remus seemed to be taken aback. Had he been forgiven? "The full moon is in two days time," he reminded Sirius, who shrugged. "I'm not sure what help I'd be."

Remus' answer didn't seem to disappoint Sirius; he looked like he had just won the lottery. "Rem, I don't care what help you'd be. I want to start over; I want to move past all of this shit. But we're the last two marauders left. Lils and James would want you to help. I fucking know it. They weren't convinced you were the spy, but Peter? He seemed so fucking stupid. Please, Moony? Please help."

Remus stole a look at Dumbledore; he nodded once. Remus looked back to Sirius, and then sighed, "Alright."

Sirius began jumping up and down, carrying on again. Remus sighed another heavy sigh, ' _what have I gotten in to?_ ' Closing his eyes, he thought: _It'll be good to start over. This could be good._


	2. Two

Sirius paced back and forth on the glossy wood floor. It was three days past the full moon, and just four days until Harry's birthday. Dumbledore had set an appointment to see how well he and Remus had cleaned up 12 Grimmauld Place. The former Black Manor had been in disrepair when Sirius entered. It had sat empty for years - well, except for Kreacher. Sirius shuddered, thinking about the wretched house elf. Sirius' first duty as _Master_ was to dismiss the house elf. He promptly hired a new house elf, Penelope. She was pleasant and hard working.

When Sirius had walked in to his childhood home, plaster had been falling off of the lath, revealing cracks that would have disgraced his mother. Family portraits that shrieked as he walked by - specifically one of his mother - hung on the wall. They had been charmed to stay, but Sirius was determined to pry every last memory of the Black family out of the home. There had been a time period on his teenage years where he wished to be nothing more than a Potter. He hated his surname. When he became an Auror, however, and was so publicly lauded as a member of the Order, Sirius embraced the Black family surname; there was nothing better than serving his family one last dish of disappointment.

With enough magic to last a lifetime, the portraits had peeled away from the walls. Remus had helped with that part, just a few days before the full moon. He had taken two full days to recuperate from the full moon, which puzzled Sirius. He had to remind himself that they weren't as young as he remembered, and the change had always been exhausting on Moony. Moony had stirred and had a healthy sized breakfast this morning, but Sirius hadn't seen him since. There was still a wall of hurt built between the two of them, but Sirius was hoping to help repair it. Where he stood today, it felt like he had all of the time in the world to do so.

Once the portraits were down and the plaster walls corrected to their once pristine state, Sirius magicked the house clean. He was so thankful that he was a wizard and not a muggle; he had never seen such filth in one house. It was finally starting to feel like a home where he could raise a young Harry Potter.

Thinking of Harry, Sirius felt a lump form in his throat. He hoped that the muggles were treating Harry okay. He hoped that they told Harry how brave his mum and dad were; how loved he was. Sirius hoped that Harry excelled at all he did.

Sirius had loved James like they were blood brothers, and Lily was just part of the package. Sirius had always known that Lily was going to give in to James; there was no way that she would be able to resist him. And eventually, she couldn't. And then they married in a whirlwind. It might have been the only bright side to the Great War. Sirius felt his face crack a smile at the thought - the world had been utter chaos for so long, but watching Lily and James love each other, and bring a child into this world, that had been the only bright spot.

And then it was all ripped from him. The lump in Sirius' throat grew larger at the thought. _How stupid was I,_ he thought, _to not realize that it was Peter who was the traitor? James had doubted the idea that Moony was the traitor, but I insisted. I thought Peter to be weak... but I was wrong. I killed my best friend. It's all my fault._

Sirius' heart ached, and a tear spilled out onto his cheek. Spending all of that time in Azkaban had made him feel things differently. He had felt so consumed with sadness, but at the same time, he had been unable to touch it and process it. The whirlwind that had surrounded that Halloween had only started to make sense when he left Azkaban the previous week. It was as if he had six years worth of thoughts and feelings and memories and he had to work on sorting them out. Sirius felt a wave of immense guilt wash over him, and he sat down in the middle of the hallway.

Almost as if on cue, Sirius heard Remus' voice, "Are you okay, Padfoot?" Remus sounded concerned, but also cautious. The wall that had been built between the two of them had much work before it could fall down completely.

"Yes, sorry. Dumbledore will be here soon to inspect that we've done the work we promised."

"I don't see how he can say no. I don't think i've ever seen this house look so nice..." Remus paused, thinking about the time in sixth year where the Marauders had snuck into Grimmauld Place to retrieve a few important items from Sirius' room. "This house has quite the history, but you wouldn't remember it anymore."

Sirius nodded, and then brought himself to his feet. "I do appreciate all of the help, Rem."

Remus snorted, "I wasn't much help, was I? Turned into a werewolf and then spent two days trying to sleep it off." Remus' eyes clouded with disappointment - at himself? He leaned against the wall casually, eyeing Sirius' movements.

"You were more than enough help. You helped get rid of the shrieking banshee that I once called my mother." Sirius looked utterly joyful at that idea. For a fleeting moment, he remembered what it was to feel _happy_. His whole face appeared to light up, and he almost looked his age. There were still dark demons swirling behind his eyes, though, causing him to appear to be millions of miles away. Sirius might be here physically, but his spirit hadn't caught up yet.

"May I cut your hair?" Remus' question brought Sirius back to the present, fighting off the demons once more.

"Sorry?"

"I don't think that it's just Grimmauld Place that needs cleaned up, Sirius. You know that. You're putting on weight, which is good. You looked like a sack of bones. I think Dumbledore would appreciate seeing you completely cleaned up, though. Healthy looking. I could do your hair like it used to look." Remus stood up straight, and took a step back. He was apprehensive of how Sirius might react to the suggestion. Although Sirius hadn't appeared to actually be violent since his return, Remus didn't want to take any chances. You never know what time in Azkaban might do to someone.

Sirius nodded, looking unsure. He motioned for the men to walk to the kitchen behind Remus. Remus obliged, and magic'd up a pair of haircutting shears. It had been a long time since Remus had cut James or Sirius' hair, but he was confident that he'd be able to remember. Sirius obliged by sitting in the chair at the table, still mute at the idea of having it cut. Once Sirius was situated in the chair, Remus took to cutting the hair. Locks of long, dark hair fell to the ground under the table. It was not only reducing a physical weight on Sirius' head, but it also appeared to be releasing an emotional weight with each cut. As Sirius watched the hair fall to the ground, tears streamed down his cheeks.

Before, when James was James and they were partners as Aurors, Sirius and James always did this together. They cut each others hair - although there wasn't much help for the mop that James wore. In his days at Hogwarts, Sirius had worn his hair slightly longer than other boys, almost as if he was rebelling. Once they were accepted in to the Auror Academy, however, the length got shorter and shorter. He found, in some ways, that it made it easier to fight when his hair wasn't flopping into his eyes. He had been such a confident Auror, and the hair that shielded him away from others as a teen was no longer necessary. Without the long hair now, however, Sirius felt naked. He had grown used to it, almost like a security blanket.

James and Sirius had made a good team. Sirius reminisced about how many duels they got in to, only to have a successful outcome. Their team had been disbanded, however, when a prophecy was made about Harry. Sirius had never thought he'd love a child, but when Harry was born, he understood. While Harry might have been James' child, Sirius felt a remarkable duty to protect and save this child from any and all evil. Sirius blinked several more tears from his eyes; _I failed._

After what felt like an eternity in silence, Remus proclaimed, "All done!" Remus had noticed Sirius' emotional state, but decided against mentioning it. Remus handed Sirius a handheld mirror that appeared out of thin air.

Sirius ran his hands through what was left of his now short hair. It was somewhat choppy, but in a good way. For the first time in a long time, Sirius smiled a smile that met his eyes. His whole face seemed to light up without the weight of the hair that had grown long in Azkaban. "I love it. Thank you."

"Of course. I-" Remus' comment was cut short by the sound of someone arriving through the floo system.

Sirius and Remus both headed towards the chimney, wands drawn for safety. "Ah, boys. Put the wands down. You knew to expect me," came Dumbledore's voice. His blue eyes twinkled with pride as he scanned the room. "It looks better than I ever could have imagined, Sirius. Good job."

"Thank you, Albus," Sirius said quietly, holstering the wand that he was getting re-accustomed to. "Would you like a tour?"

"Of course, young boy," Dumbledore stated as if he was confused to why Sirius would even ask. Remus shifted uncomfortably, and then excused himself. Sirius recalled Remus stating that he didn't want to go on the tour; he wanted Dumbledore to have alone time with Sirius to get a better judge of who he was after six years of hell.

As Sirius and Dumbledore toured the massive home, Dumbledore spoke about what he knew of Harry's life thus-far. It turned out that the woman who lived across the street was a personal friend, stationed there to watch out for Harry. Harry was small for his age - _has he always been? I can't remember,_ thought Sirius - but he appeared to be happy and helpful. The source, whom Dumbledore wouldn't reveal, had no major concerns over Harry's health and wellbeing.

This seemed to settle Sirius' attitude about the whole situation, although he still felt in the pit of his stomach that had Lily and James wanted Lily's sister to be Harry's caregiver, they would have specified it. Sirius remembered that Lily hadn't been too fond of her sister prior to her death; James and Lily had shown up to her sister's wedding, only to be turned away. When Lily's parents were tortured and killed by death eaters the year before Lily was killed, Petunia had stated that she wished it had been Lily that died. After that, they never spoke again. Sirius wasn't even sure if Petunia had known that Harry had been born, or knew that Lily ever had a baby.

After touring the house, Dumbledore sat down with Sirius at the kitchen table. A note scrawled on a pad that sat on the table was easily recognizable as Remus' handwriting. **Ran to the grocery. Be back soon.** A smile plastered itself on Sirius' face. Just a week ago, he never thought he'd see that handwriting again. And here he was, worrying about stupid things like groceries.

"Sirius," said Dumbledore, demanding Sirius' attention. "I think that this is an appropriate place for Harry to live, but like I told you before, we need to make sure that Harry can still receive the protection from his aunt and uncle."

"What does that entail?" wondered Sirius out loud, searching Dumbledore's searing blue eyes for answers.

Dumbledore inhaled, and nodded in understanding of the question. "Harry will need to spend two weeks each year with his aunt and uncle. These two weeks would preferably be consecutive."

Sirius nodded slowly, understanding. He didn't understand this blood protection spell, but he trusted Dumbledore enough to let him make that recommendation. After all, Dumbledore had kept Harry safe for the past five years when Sirius had been unable to. "Okay," he resigned, nodding his head along. "When can I go get him?"

"I don't believe that Harry knows anything of you. Not knowing how he feels towards his aunt and uncle, this could be a complicated situation," Dumbledore said delicately. Sirius felt like his heart was crushing in his chest. He hadn't even thought of the instance where Harry might _want_ to stay with his aunt and uncle.

"He's far too young to decide something like that!" protested Sirius.

Dumbledore silenced Sirius with the look he gave him; the piercing blue eyes seemed to read Sirius' sole. "I do not want to traumatize this young many any more than I need to. You can show up on his birthday - I believe that's in four days? - and have a conversation about this with his aunt, uncle, and Harry. You're not going to go around disturbing him anymore than you need to. Family is a temperamental thing, as I'm sure you remember. If Harry has the ability to stay with his blood relatives and not have any more loss, I'd prefer that."

Sirius exhaled loudly, feeling as if he'd been punched in the stomach. "But James and Lily _wanted_ me to take care of Harry."

Dumbledore stood up from the table and began to make his way to the floo network in the other room. As he reached the fireplace, he gave Sirius a steely look. "Just keep it in mind, Sirius. It isn't fair to him for you to disrupt his whole life. I'm not saying you can't see him, I'm just saying that you need to be considerate of where he's been."

With that, Dumbledore stepped in to the fireplace and yelled, "Hogwarts!" before disappearing altogether. Sirius sat down on the floor with his back against the wall. He hadn't considered that Harry might stay. He hadn't considered any of this. Leaning his head back, Sirius closed his eyes.

"Life is so bloody complicated."

All Sirius could do was hope and pray to Merlin that Harry wanted to be in his life as much as he wanted Harry to be in his. Harry was why Sirius had remained sane throughout his time in Azkaban; Sirius replayed the moments prior to the life changing events that had included Harry. Harry had kept him somewhat normal. Sirius had promised to always protect him. _But you had promised to always protect James and Lily, too. Look where that got you, Black,_ he thought to himself.

 _I'll do better this time. I know it. This is a fresh start._


	3. Three

"It's a hot one out there, today!" boomed the voice from the stereo in the muggle car that Remus was driving. Sirius sat in the passenger seat, his leg bouncing up and down with anticipation. Sweat beaded at Sirius' forehead, even with the air conditioning going. It was easy to see that he was anxious about this drive. Not because Remus was a bad driver, but because at the end of it, he would see his god son for the first time in years.

Sirius had wanted to just apparate to the address that Dumbledore had provided, but both Dumbledore and Remus cautioned a more traditional form of transportation. Sirius didn't understand what the big deal was, but Dumbledore urged to do this with the utmost secrecy. Although Sirius hadn't grown up in a muggle household, he had learned to drive a car and motorbike during the Great War. A smile cracked his face as he thought of the motorbike that he had enchanted to fly; Harry had loved that. In a moment of desperation, Sirius had left it with Harry and Hagrid on _that night_ because he didn't care what happened to him after he killed Pettigrew.

Sirius turned his eyes to Remus and cocked his head. Remus looked at ease driving the muggle car. "Do you do this a lot?" wondered Sirius out loud, thinking about when he and James learned to drive. It had been one of the scariest things they had done - rush hour in London had been their teacher. Thankfully, they hadn't needed too many confundus charms to bewitch the muggles into thinking there wasn't a problem. A smile crept to his face; he cherished the memories that he had of James, happy and free. He couldn't wait to teach Harry who his father had been.

"Do what?" Remus' question startled Sirius from his memories. Sirius made a motion to the car, and Remus understood. "Drive? No. I haven't in years. But it's just like riding a bike, isn't it?"

Sirius shrugged, not willing to commit to that. He didn't know if driving was like riding a bike. He hadn't even offered to drive, the anxiety that swelled in his stomach ate him up. He had been having trouble sleeping ever since getting the green light from Dumbledore to go ahead and talk to Harry. _Just talk,_ Sirius reminded himself. _He can say no. He can love his life. It doesn't mean that he doesn't love you, but he needs stability too. It doesn't mean forever..._

"We'll be there in two minutes," murmured Remus. Sirius' head snapped up and he looked around. Everything looked so... "It looks so normal, doesn't it?" Remus finished Sirius' thought for him, a sideways glance at the last living Heir to a once great wizarding family.

"Yeah... who'd have thought that Dumbledore would hide Harry in plain sight here."

"There's only muggles, really. No one knows his story here. He's been safe, which is _exactly_ why we didn't apparate. We're not to do magic," Remus warned Sirius with a stern tone that he had only heard once or twice from Remus before.

"I know, I know!"

Since being out of Azkaban and living with Remus again, he often found himself feeling younger and younger than he was. He had missed out on _a lot,_ but that didn't mean that he needed lectures from Remus. Sirius knew that he wasn't quite all right in the head, either. Azkaban had stolen things from him. He wasn't sure if he would ever return to the carefree young man that he used to be, but he was determined as hell to not let the demons eat at him day in and day out. He smoothed his shirt as Remus pulled the car to the curb.

"Number four, here we are," claimed Remus as he put the car into park. Sirius scanned the street dubiously. All of the houses looked the same with the same perfectly manicured gardens. The only difference about _this_ house was a small, raven haired boy wearing an badly dyed, oversized maroon shirt and beige colored shorts sat on his knees. He was digging in the garden, it appeared. Dirt was easy to spot on the backs of his arms, almost as if he had been digging for quite some time. Sirius gave Remus an unsure look.

"This is it," Remus assured Sirius. "That might even be Harry, although he looks very small for a six year old..."

"He's just six today!" Sirius reminded Remus. Remus responded with an eye roll as he stepped out of the car. Sirius scrambled to keep up. His legs felt funny, as if they might cause him to collapse from his weight. _Steady the nerves, Black. This has to be safer than every hair-brained mission you went on for the Order!_ Sirius shook his head; while he wasn't concerned about his safety, the stakes in this mission seemed so much higher.

The raven haired boy turned his head at the approaching guests, but quickly went back to his job. He didn't appear to want to talk to the strangers. Sirius could just pick up this tiny boy and run back to the car and they'd never need to have a difficult conversation about what Harry actually wanted... Sirius' hands beaded with sweat at the idea. As if he knew what Sirius was thinking, Remus motioned for the two men to ring the buzzer on the door.

An unremarkable tall, thin woman whose neck reminded Sirius of a giraffe opened the door. Whomever she had plastered the smile for was obviously not the two men standing at the door in their best attempt of looking like average, every day muggles. Sirius squinted his eyes, taking in Petunia's features. They had met, once before. After James and Lily had a disastrous double date with Vernon and Petunia, he had James attempted to make it up for her. Sirius wasn't clear if she recognized who he was now; there was no flying motorbike and Sirius was still thinner than he had been.

"You," was all that Petunia managed to get out, acknowledging that she did recognize at least one of the men.

"Petunia," Remus started, looking at the stares Sirius and Petunia were giving each other with great trepidation. He wasn't wanting to get arrested for Sirius doing something stupid. "May we come in? There's an important matter to speak with you about." Remus glanced over his shoulder at Harry, who seemed to be ignoring the whole conversation.

Petunia looked torn. "Yes, very well. I can't have you standing on the front stoop all day, can I?" Her question was rhetorical as she marched off towards the sitting room. Remus and Sirius shrugged at each other before following her in. Once they were in the sitting room, and as far as Petunia could tell, out of ear shot of listening ears, she gave them a firm look. "What're you here about? In that letter from that man, he said I would never have to see _your lot_ again!"

"We're very sorry to interrupt your life-" started Remus, who was quickly cut off by Sirius.

"-Look, we're here to get my god son, if he'll come with us."

Petunia looked between the two men, slightly dumbfounded. And then, her cheeks colored with red out of anger. "You are telling _me,_ " she hissed, attempting to keep her voice low so Dudley, her son, didn't overhear, "That _you could have taken the boy for this whole time?!"_

"Well, no. Y'see, I was in prison for attempting to murder the person who turned Lily and James in to the Dark Lord," Sirius stated nonchalantly, hoping to get a rise out of Petunia.

"Sirius!" Remus chided. Petunia folded her arms over her chest and stared at the two men with a look that could have killed a weaker person.

"Also," Sirius reminded the angry aunt, " _That boy_ has a name; it is Harry. Harry James Potter." Sirius reached for his wand that was holstered under his simple black t-shirt.

Petunia's eyes shifted from Sirius to Remus, and she looked slightly panicked. "You need to put that away! You can't do that _here!_ Lily even told me that. It's illegal." Her voice sounded as panicked as she looked. Remus placed his hand on Sirius' arm, prompting the man to re-holster the wand that he was now holding.

"Look, we're not here to cause problems. We just want to have a conversation with Harry," Remus prompted gently.

"Fine," Petunia spat. "That good for nothing Potter, getting the two of them blown up," she huffed as she marched past them and back towards the front door. Remus and Sirius glanced at each other, unsure of how to react to that comment. They heard her screech Harry's name, and then watched as she sternly steered the young boy in to the sitting room. "These two men want to talk to you." She resumed her position with her arms folded over her chest, glaring at the two men who stood in the sitting room.

Harry was covered in dirt, it was easy to see. He must have been working hard on whatever project he was doing. His shirt was drenched with sweat, and his hair appeared to also be wet. His forehead was tinged pink; it appeared that he had been sent outside without any sunscreen on. The clothes that he was wearing hung loosely off of his body, but it was easy to see that his frame was slight.

Instead of getting angry and hexing Petunia as he wanted, Sirius dropped slowly to his knees. He wanted to be as close to Harry's eye level as was possible. "Hello, Harry," Sirius said softly.

"How'd you know my name?" Harry inquired unsure. He looked behind him at his aunt, who still was wearing a look that could kill.

Sirius took a deep breath, and Remus joined him in his position on the floor. "I- we - we were best friends with your mum and dad, before they died."

Harry's eyes grew round. _Those green eyes,_ Sirius thought, _he's the perfect mixture between Lily and James._ "So you're just saying hi?" Harry sounded unsure, and rocked back on his heel. He almost appeared like he wanted to run.

"I, uh... - we are hoping, if it's okay with you...we..." Sirius sputtered, unable to find the words to say.

"What my friend Sirius here is wondering is if you'd like to come live with us?" Remus was able to articulate Sirius' thoughts better, and Sirius felt a warmth of happiness over himself that Remus had agreed to come along.

Harry looked between the two men and then back at Petunia. He appeared to be trying to figure out what was _really_ going on. For a newly six year old, Harry was very cautious. He didn't appear to be as impulsive with his words as other children that the two young men had met. "Is this a joke?" was finally the question Harry settled on.

"A joke?" Asked Sirius incredulous. "No! Harry, I'm your god father! Your mum and dad wanted me to take care of you, if anything ever happened. But.. I have been unable to until now."

"Just go live with them," sneered Harry's aunt, causing all of the eyes to lock on her. "You'll no longer be a burden on our family. Just leave!"

Sirius felt his chest burn with anger, and he reached for his wand once again. Remus grabbed his arm quickly and shook his head. _Not here,_ he mouthed. Remus also felt the same anger that Sirius was engulfed in, but he was attempting to keep his cool.

Harry's head had dropped, and he looked sheepishly up at the two young men kneeling in front of him. "I'd like to live with you, but I'm a burden on everyone..."

"No, no, no," Sirius consoled, throwing himself back to his feet in a swift move that could only be attributed to his days as an Auror. In the next body movement, Sirius had wrapped his arms around the young boy, picking him up and holding him close. "I'd have never let you go, if I had the option. I had things I needed to do first, Harry. I've loved you since you were born." Sirius felt Harry's thin arms close around his neck and nuzzle against Sirius' chest with his head. _This feels normal,_ Sirius thought, and gave the boy an extra squeeze as he set him down.

"I'd like to come be with you, if it's okay.." responded Harry in the littlest of voices. Sirius practically beamed as he turned around to look at Remus.

"Of course you can! How about we grab your stuff and then we'll go get some lunch and go home?"

Petunia's expression finally changed, to one of embarrassment. Her cheeks once again were tinged with pink, but this time the motivation behind the color was fear. "Oh, no -" she started, to promptly be stopped as Harry raced to the cupboard under the stairs. Sirius and Remus followed.

"You're grabbing your shoes, then?" Remus asked Harry gently as Harry plunged in to the dark coat closet.

"Oh, no. I don't have any shoes." Remus and Sirius stared at each other, and then back to Petunia who looked as if she was wishing for the floor to open her up and swallow her whole.

"What'd'you mean? What're you doing in the coat closet then?" Sirius asked Harry, confused.

Harry emerged from the dark coat closet with his hands full of clearly oversized and poorly dyed clothing. "This is my bedroom?" Harry seemed unsure.

"Your bedroom is the closet under the stairs?" Remus' voice was flat, but he wouldn't have blamed Sirius for pulling out his wand in this case. Harry nodded unsure. Sirius seemed determined not to go back to Azkaban so quickly after his name was cleared. After what felt like an eternity, he stepped towards Harry and took the items out of Harry's hands. He picked Harry up into his arms, cradling him close as he walked out the front door without another look towards Petunia and the house that had caused Harry so much pain in such a short time.

Remus, left standing there gaping at Sirius' restraint, turned to Petunia. "You're a filthy excuse of a human, you and your husband both. We're not going to hurt you, but you'll be wishing this never happened." Remus was shocked by the words that had come out of his mouth. He had never spoken to anyone in such a threatening manner. This, however, seemed important. He flung the door to the cupboard shut with a loud bang and followed in his friends footsteps.

Sirius had already put Harry in the backseat and ensured that the buckles were done by the time Remus approached the car. With just a silent nod between the two of them, Remus and Sirius got in to the car in unison and sped away from the muggle household. Harry sat in the backseat quietly, not wanting to press his luck that these two men would remain nice to him. It felt weird being away from the house that he knew so well, but this wasn't the first time that he had moved. It was just the first time that he remembered.

Sirius and Remus weren't able or ready to talk about the things they had witnessed; there needed to be a cooling down time. But first, before anything else, a meal and a bath were in order for Harry Potter. Remus and Sirius shared a look that they both understood. From here on out, Harry came before everything else.


	4. Four

"Harry, let us know if you need any help," Sirius prompted gently. The trio had arrived back at Grimmauld Place after eating a large meal. Sirius had immediately headed to the bathroom and helped Harry start a shower. He wasn't sure at what age parents stop micromanaging their children's hygiene habits, but he figured that Harry would be articulate enough to call for help if needed. Besides, Sirius and Remus needed to talk, and they'd only be down the hallway.

Harry nodded slowly at his new found relative, reaching to pull off his shirt as Sirius exited the room. Sirius left the bathroom door cracked... just in case. _It'll be fine; he's probably showered a million times over,_ Sirius thought as he headed in to the room just down the hall that Remus was occupying.

Remus glanced up as Sirius entered the room. "How're you doing?" Remus exhaled, eyes glued to Sirius. A book sat opened on Remus' lap, his finger holding his place.

Sirius ran his hand over his jaw, his light stable prickling himself. "I don't know, mate. I don't know if I have what it takes to be... a parent. I'm not James. James had always wanted this life, but..." Sirius' sentence stopped abruptly. He didn't know what to say. He _liked_ children enough, but he had never been sold on having one of his own. James, on the other hand, had always seen a house full of children with Lily.

"I get it, Padfoot. I do," Remus admitted, and Sirius nodded. There had been many conversations that had taken place in the Gryffindor Boy's dorm about Remus' future. There had been a time where Remus hadn't felt like he was ever worth it to anyone... and that had broken Sirius' heart for his friend. Remus was overall an amazing person, who deserved nothing but the best. Remus struggled to see that through his furry little problem.

Sirius ran his hand over the back of his neck, listening to the shower run in the other room. "In all honesty, I am not sure what Lily and James saw in me when they decided to make me god father. I just don't know what they thought would happen. What would have happened if I had to parent Harry when we were just 21? I'm not much older, but... that would have been disastrous."

Remus shook his head, disagreeing. "You were brilliant with Harry as a baby. You always seemed to understand what he needed and wanted. You might not have made Lily happy with _every_ decision that you've made," Remus said with a chuckle, "but you'd have figured it out. And right now, we're gonna figure this out together."

Sirius sat on the edge of the bed that Remus was sprawled over. He knew that Remus was correct in his deductions, but it didn't make it any more pleasant to think about. "I wish that none of this had happened; I wish that they were here to raise him." His voice was low, but it was still audible. Sirius wasn't upset that he would have to raise Harry from this point on - in fact, it restored a part of him that had died while he was in Azkaban - but he was angry that Lily and James were robbed the chance. _Because of a foolish, idiotic miscalculation on your part, Black,_ his mind sneered at him.

"I think that we'd all prefer that Harry be raised by his mum and dad," Remus reminded Sirius. Sirius wasn't alone in his thinking. Remus had wished that he had been more - been trustworthy - and that Sirius hadn't argued with James about the secret keeper position. But thinking about it, how would anyone have ever thought that Peter Pettigrew of all people would be competent enough to prove worthy to someone like Voldemort?

Sirius' eyes scanned the room that Remus had claimed as his. A week ago, it would have been uninhabitable. Remus had really spruced up the old room with a new paint scheme and had transformed the furniture into something that didn't look like it had just come out of the House of Black. The walls were painted a pale grey color that almost held a shimmer. Remus had magic'd the ceiling in the room to look like the night sky with constellations that twinkled.

"What are we going to do about how he was being treated by the muggles? They kept him in a cupboard under the stairs, for Merlin's sake," Sirius seethed. He was so angry that you could feel the heat radiating off of him. Remus and Sirius had exchanged a series of looks between each other, but had decided to not say anything to each other about it until they had a private moment together.

Remus snapped the book closed, revealing the title: _Tales of Beedle the Bard_. Sirius did a double take; it had been eons, it felt, since he had seen that book. "I think, at the very least, we need to tell Dumbledore. Whomever his source is in the neighborhood was unable to explain all of the things that were going on in the household. I'm proud of you, for the record."

Sirius scrunched his face, confused. "Why's'at?"

"You didn't hurt Petunia," Remus reminded Sirius. Sirius' face broke out in a grin, and his eyes danced with laughter.

"I couldn't do that, Moony. I have a job to do. I'm a god father!" Remus returned the smile, happy that his friend had found a purpose. Before the conversation of what they thought should happen to the retched muggle that Lily had the misfortune of being related to, a loud bang came from down the hall.

"Shit! Harry!" Sirius and Remus both jumped up in one fluid motion. Remus hurriedly followed Sirius' footsteps down the hallway to the bathroom. The door was still cracked open as Sirius flung it open.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Sirius questioned, his hand still on the door and his body still moving in a forward motion.

Harry looked slightly shocked to see both men arriving in the bathroom to check on him. He had managed to wrap himself in the towel that Sirius had left for him, and was pleasantly surprised to learn that the towel was was warm. "I'm sorry," his small voice said. The look on his face was a mixture between petrified of what the men might do to him, and embarrassed that he had caused such a ruckus. "When I was trying to get out, I knocked over all the things that were on the shelf. I'm sorry. I can clean it up," he apologized, his face flushing.

Sirius let out a laugh, and embraced Harry in a hug. "I was just worried that you had been hurt. It scared me, bud." The nickname slipped out of Sirius' mouth without his realizing it. When Harry had been just a baby, Sirius had what seemed like a million nicknames for him; it seemed to return naturally.

"You're not mad?" Harry inquired, squirming against Sirius' embrace.

Remus pulled out his wand, and helped all of the hygiene products return to their rightful places. Harry stood dumbfounded, and stopped squirming against Sirius. He held on to Sirius' arm and stared at Remus with piercing green eyes. "How did you do that?"

Remus and Sirius exchanged a look, unsure of what was going on. "Harry, what did your aunt and uncle tell you about your mum and dad?" Sirius prompted gently.

The newly six year old shivered, but Sirius knew that it wasn't due to being cold. The towel that he was wrapped in was still perfectly warm from a charm Sirius had put on it for Harry. "They died in a car accident," Harry explained simply. "Uncle Vernon says that my dad was a lazy, layabout drunk and then he killed them both. I was in the accident, too. That's why I have my scar!" Harry pushed his hair off of his forehead, almost proudly showing off the little lightning bolt that dotted his forehead.

"That's not right at all," Sirius said, shaking his head in anger. "Harry, you're magical."

"There's no such thing as magic!" argued Harry. His cheeks flushed once more. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to talk back to you." Harry bit down on his lower lip and lowered his eyes.

"Harry, your mom and dad were magical," Remus said softly from his spot against the wall. "You're a wizard. There's nothing wrong with being magical. It's the best thing in the world," Remus promised.

"Yes!" agreed Sirius. He hadn't realized that they hadn't exposed Harry to any magic throughout the few short hours that they had been with him. He was glad, however, that they hadn't had to have this discussion while they sat in the muggle restaurant that Harry had picked out, eating their sandwiches. That would have been awkward.

"Is that why I'm a freak?" Harry's voice seemed softer than ever, and he stared at Sirius with questioning green eyes.

Sirius stood up quickly, as if he had been burnt by Harry. "A freak?! Is that what those pathetic muggles told you?! Magic is the best damned thing that has ever happened to anyone!" Sirius whipped out his wand and aimed it at Harry. Harry shrunk at the sight of the wand, unsure of what was going to happen to him.

Sirius waved the wand in an uncomplicated motion and the towel finished making the drying motions. The puddle of water that was under Harry disappeared. The towel was then sent back to the towel rack, just as Harry sized clothing flew in to the room from the hallway, awaiting Harry to step in to them. Harry obliged and then stood there with an excited look on his face.

"So you can make anything happen with magic?"

"Almost anything," Remus said, making a motion for the trio to take Harry to his bedroom. It was nearly 8:00. After a long day of travel and exciting discoveries, Remus figured that Harry must be exhausted.

Harry and Sirius trailed behind Remus as they wandered down the hallway. They passed Remus' bedroom and Sirius' bedroom, and with each door, Remus explained what it was for. The next door, however, was for Harry's room. Remus entered the room, patiently waiting for Harry and Sirius to catch up. "Could you bring my mum and dad back?"

Sirius felt like he had been stabbed in the heart with a searing knife. _Oh, Harry. How I wish nothing more than to bring them back for you,_ thought Sirius. "I promise you, Harry, if I had that type of power, you'd have them and not me."

Harry seemed to understand, but he remained quiet. Sirius acknowledged that this would have been a lot of information for a six year old to take in all at once. He felt poorly for overwhelming Harry with all of this at once, but it was also good to get it out of the way. Sirius hoped that Harry didn't hate him and Remus for throwing so much information at him at once.

As Harry stepped in to his bedroom, which Sirius and Remus had decorated in Gryffindor colors, he smiled big. The ceiling was painted similarly to Remus' room, with twinkling stars for Harry to admire as he waited to fall asleep. "Is this for me?!" Harry exclaimed, with perhaps the most joyful squeal that Sirius had ever heard a child make. Remus nodded, and Harry immediately climbed on to the bed. He began to jump up and down as his eyes scanned the room. "What's that?" he demanded, plopping down on the bed. Sirius and Remus followed Harry's outstretched finger and met the mural of a Quidditch game that had been painted onto the wall.

"That," Sirius explained, "is a story for another day. But today's been a big day for you, and you need to rest."

Almost as if on cue, Harry yawned largely. He snuggled against the pillow that laid on the bed, and Remus brought the blanket up to his chin. "Sirius? Remus?" Harry asked, his eyes heavy with sleep. Sirius ran his hand over Harry's head, fingers tangling in his unruly hair for a moment. "Can I just tell you? Even if I wake back up in my cupboard in the morning, today has been the best day of my life. I love this birthday," he said, another yawn ceasing his talk.

Sirius planted a kiss on Harry's forehead. "Get some rest, pup. We have the rest of your life to make more memories." Harry seemed to not need permission to sleep, as his eyes closed once more. They didn't reopen after that.

Sirius and Remus exited the room quietly. The two men also felt exhausted - it had been one of the more emotionally exhausting days that Sirius could recall in recent memory, even when compared to the day that he was released from Azkaban. "We'll talk in the morning," Remus promised Sirius as Sirius' hand rested on his bedroom door handle. He nodded tiredly, amazed at how worn he felt after today.

Sirius quickly changed in to his pajamas. He didn't recall falling asleep, it happened seamlessly. His mind had even been able to stop with the worries. Life felt like it made more sense now that Harry was _home._

Sirius was awakened far too early - the night sky was still dark outside. The muggle alarm clock on his nightstand by his bed read 2:53 AM in bright red letters. He blinked his eyes a few times, trying to figure out what had woken him up. As his eyes focused, he saw Harry standing there with his blanket in one hand. His face was illuminated with the glow of the alarm clock. Sirius sat up quickly, alarmed, and reached for his wand. The tip of the wand lit effortlessly as the word _Lumus_ slipped from Sirius' lips.

"Are you okay, bub?" Sirius asked, concern lacing his voice. Harry nodded his head. His green eyes looked heavy. "What's going on?" Sirius inquired, pushing Harry to give him answers.

"I had a bad dream, and I'm scared," whispered Harry. "There was screaming and green lights and my new room is so big and there's probably monsters and I don't know what I'm supposed to do," Harry rambled in one breath, clutching tighter to the blanket that he had dragged down the hallway with him.

Sirius rubbed his eyes, relaxing slightly. Nightmares were probably normal. _Most kids have them, right?_ He thought to himself. "How can I make it better?" Sirius asked Harry, confused on what he was supposed to do. _Maybe I should have read a parenting handbook between getting out of Azkaban and picking Harry up. How in Merlin's name am I supposed to know what to do?_

"Can I stay with you tonight?" Harry asked, his eyes downcast.

Sirius' features softened at the request. "Of course, Harry. Come on," Sirius said, reaching to pull Harry in to bed with him. Harry obliged and immediately snuggled up to Sirius. Before Sirius could even whisper _Nox,_ Harry's breathing had once again slowed and he was asleep. As Sirius sunk back down into bed, his arm protectively curled around Harry's slight frame, he couldn't help but smile. Perhaps part of the fresh start would be picking up where James left off. Perhaps he _could_ learn what it takes to be a _great_ dad.

For the first night in what felt like years, Sirius Black went to sleep with a smile on his face. He had a purpose again. He would give his life for the tiny boy that slept next to him, clutching on to his hand as if it was the only thing grounding him in reality. Sirius might not have all of the answers on how to be a dad, but he was sure as hell going to do a better job that the Dursleys had done so far.


	5. Five

Sirius bowed his head as he raced above treetops, eyes blinking rapidly at the wind he was feeling his in his face. _Bloody hell,_ he thought. _Why would I ever agree to this stupid race to catch the snitch against him?_ Sirius dove into the tree canopy, quickly on the tail of a sight, raven haired teenager. Without warning, the boy he was following pulled up and broke through the canopy once more. Sirius shook his head and followed suit; he hadn't even spotted the snitch.

Sirius squinted his eyes, looking into the setting evening sun. He dove quickly and then began a quick ascent. He was all over the place. The truth was, Sirius _hated_ brooms. He hated this method of transportation, and he didn't really have the patience for Quidditch. Games could last _forever_. While he enjoyed flying on his magic'd motorbike, this was far more uncomfortable. _I bet I could just go home, and he'd never think anything different of it..._ Sirius mused as a small orb buzzed past his face and up.

 _That's the snitch!_ He thought, and began a climb higher towards the sun. Sirius leaned forward on his broom, determined to catch the snitch first for once. Without warning, the raven-haired boy collided violently with Sirius, sounded by a loud bang, a few yells, and both men tumbling towards their deaths.

Sirius sat up in his bed, gasping for breath. The dream had been so vivid. Sirius and James had used to play that game all the time when he lived with the Potters. Sirius tried to slow his breathing as he wiped his sweat drenched forehead. A loud bang issued from the floor below, and Sirius was immediately alert to the fact that the noises hadn't all been in his head. He stumbled out of bed and grabbed his wand in one swift motion before bolting down the stairs.

Sirius rounded the corner from where he thought the noises were coming from - squeals and Harry yelling _Help! Help! Help!_ in repetition. Sirius' heart was in his throat, his wand drawn to attack whomever was hurting his god son. Another loud bang and more squealing caused Sirius to run faster. He arrived at a room that Remus had nick-named the Black Family Library, ready to cast an unforgivable curse.

" _Cru_ -," Sirius caught himself as he took the scene in. Books were strewn about the room, and Remus and Harry were wrestling in the center of the room. Harry wasn't squealing with fear or pain; he was squealing from laughter. Sirius lowered his wand, eyes slanted as he surveyed the scene.

"Padfoot! Save me!" Harry cried, causing Remus to look up with a cheeky grin. He disregarded Sirius' wand that was still in his hand, and continued to pin Harry to the floor, tickling him.

Sirius grinned; two could play at this game. Tossing his wand carelessly on the table, Sirius exclaimed, "Don't worry, Harry! I'm not afraid of old Moony!" Sirius then gripped Remus under the chest and pulled him backwards, off of Harry. Sirius tackled Remus to the floor breathlessly, unable to contain his glee that he could be Harry's hero for just a moment.

"Ouch, Padfoot!" Remus complained, trying to squirm away from Sirius' grip. If only Remus could reach his wand that was tucked in to his waistband...

"Oh! Now you care that someones being hurt?" Sirius feigned annoyance. He winked at Harry and asked, "What should I do, pup? Turn old Moony into a toad?"

Harry squealed with more laughter and decided to join the dog pile, jumping squarely on Sirius' back. Both men let out an _Oomph!_ and Sirius rolled off of Remus, careful not to hurt Harry. "Again, again!" Harry cried, wrapping his arms around Sirius' neck. Harry nuzzled Sirius, clinging tight to his godfather.

"I don't know, pup," said Sirius, pretending to be defeated. He flopped forward on his stomach, closed his eyes, and made a snoring noise.

Harry grabbed a fistful of Sirius' hair that had started to once again grow out. He pulled on the hair, causing Sirius to let out a slew of curse words and sit up quickly. Harry slid down Sirius' back, landing on the wooden floor. At the sight of Sirius rubbing the back of his head, Remus chortled healthily.

"Does anyone," complained Sirius, still rubbing his head where his beautiful hair had been pulled, "explain to me what is going on in here? I thought I was going to walk into a war zone." He shot Remus a dirty look.

Remus grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Padfoot. Harry was awake early, but we didn't want to wake you-"

"Good job there, Moons," Sirius interjected.

Remus continued as if he hadn't heard Sirius' complaint. "So anyway, we were playing Auror. I was the Auror and Harry was the bad guy."

Harry nodded, laughter still in his eyes. "I see," Sirius said, shaking his head. He reached towards the table to grab his wand. Although he could do magic without holding on to his wand, he didn't feel comfortable without it. "What was Moony after you for, bud?" Sirius' eyes wandered to Harry, who engulfed Sirius in another hug.

"I don't know if I can tell you! It's pretty bad!" Sirius smiled against Harry's hair. Six was fun. This is how six should be. After living with Sirius and Remus for nearly two months, Harry was starting to relax and come out of his shell. Harry's imagination flourished, and Sirius was thankful for everyday that Harry had said yes to living with the two strange men.

"I think you can tell me. I won't be too mad. I probably won't lock you up in Azkaban," Sirius promised, kissing Harry's temple.

"Moony was being an Auror, and he was after me because," Harry's voice dropped low. Remus winked at Harry, over Sirius' head. "...he was after me, because I ate all of the chocolate frogs!"

" _All of them?!"_ Sirius asked, incredulous. Harry nodded solemnly. "Great Merlin's beard! Straight to Azkaban with you!" Sirius wrapped his arms around Harry, enveloping him in a bear hug. "Auror Lupin, take us to Azkaban!"

Harry squealed with more laughter, squirming against Sirius' tight grip. "No, no! Padfoot! No! I promise I will never eat _all_ of them again!" Sirius considered Harry's confession, and hugged him tight. It felt good to joke like this. It felt... almost normal.

After playing around for a little longer, Sirius and Remus quickly magic'd the room clean. "We need to get ready, Harry. We have a big day ahead of us. Professor Dumbledore would like us to meet him at his office," explained Sirius. Harry nodded; he had heard the name Professor Dumbledore, but hadn't met the man that Sirius and Remus talked so highly about yet.

Once all three men were dressed appropriately - Remus in wizarding robes, Sirius in a nice t-shirt with a pair of slacks, and Harry matching Sirius - they all assembled to take the floo network. This was not Harry's first time using the Floo network, but both Remus reminded him of the dangers if he were to let go of Sirius during the transition. Harry had nodded, seemingly understanding the dangers of being lost in the Floo network. He had expressed the last time that the men used Floo to get anywhere, that he was terrified of being lost in someone's chimney; he clung tighter than normal to Sirius.

The moment spent in the Floo whirlwinded around the men. Sirius had always kept his eyes closed because, next to broomsticks, the Floo Network was one of his least favorite ways to travel. It always made his head dizzy and feel like he was going to vomit. _I think I hate most modes of transportation that aren't my motorbike,_ Sirius mused.

The men had arrived in Dumbledore's office at approximately 11:02 AM. "I've been expecting you," Dumbledore announced as the three took their first steps into his office.

"Sorry that we're late, Professor," apologized Remus. Remus cared about being on time; Sirius less so. He had never been one to want to be held hostage to time.

Dumbledore's stunning blue eyes twinkled at the men and he nodded. "I understand. Harry, my boy, a pleasure to meet you!" His eyes traveled to the young, small boy still clinging to Sirius as if he might get sucked down the wrong Floo. Harry's emerald green eyes - so much like his mothers! - wandered to the old man. He quickly shifted his head so his face was pressed against Sirius' shoulder.

"He's shy," Sirius said apologetically. "Pup, Dumbledore is a good man. He's the reason that you get to live with me. It's okay to talk to him," he promised.

Sirius and Remus dropped in to the chairs that were neatly sitting in front of Dumbledore's desk. Harry pried his eyes away from Sirius' shoulder and glanced around at all the objects in Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore, watching the globe that Harry's eyes had landed on, stood and brought it to Harry. "In my old age, young boy, I have amassed far too many toys than could be useful." He held the golden globe out for Harry to take. After a moment of surveying the situation that he found himself in, Harry accepted the globe that was being offered and shifted so that he was merely sitting on Sirius' lap with a less constricting vice grip. Sirius continued to hold Harry around the waist, afraid that all of the magic of the past two months would be stripped from him if he let go.

"You wanted to see us?" Remus prompted as Dumbledore sat down.

Dumbledore stroked his long beard, smiling as Harry spun the globe. "Yes, I did. I wanted to update you on the ongoing situation with Mr. and Mrs. Dursley."

Harry's eyes snapped up to look at the man. His voice was soft but steady, "Do you mean my aunt and uncle? I don't want to go back to them! I want to stay with Sirius! Please!" His green eyes brimmed with tears, threatening to spill over. Sirius hugged Harry tighter, kissing the top of his head. Sirius glanced at Dumbledore, his grey eyes shining with resistance.

"Oh, my dear boy, you'll not have to go back there. When I heard of how they were treating you," Dumbledore began, a smile in his eyes, "I did the most responsible thing I could. I called the Child Protection Agency."

Remus and Sirius exchanged glances. "Sir, I'm sorry," Remus' voice sounded wary. "You called a muggle agency to look over the abuse of a wizarding child?"

"It seemed the most fitting for them. They wouldn't have ever allowed Aurors to enter the home safely and conduct an investigation. I feared that it would cause the Aurors investigating to use undue force. It was a very precarious situation, I'm sorry to say."

"What are you getting at, Albus?" Sirius demanded, gripping Harry even closer to him. The globe that Harry was still holding fell to the ground.

"I don't want to go back there," reminded Harry in a small voice. He swung his foot out, making contact with Dumbledore's wooden desk.

"My dear boy," Dumbledore said calmly, ignoring the small tantrum that Harry seemed to be having, "You do not have to go back. They were found guilty of abuse and neglect of a child. Their own son - Dudley, is it? - has been removed from their care."

Remus and Sirius exchanged more nervous glances. "I thought, Professor, that you said that there's an curse that Lily put on Harry? He needs to return there?"

"I am currently working on a workaround. I think that it's possible, should Harry be adopted or a similar action, it should be possible to transfer. I believe that you two were as close to James and Lily as any blood relative. I have been spending the past two months researching this, but there isn't as much information on the subject that I would like." Dumbledore's voice sounded defeated, as if the old man was unsure where to turn next. Sirius shrugged; he knew even less information about the type of blood curse that Dumbledore was talking about. All he knew was that he sure as hell loved Harry more than those filthy muggles ever could.

"I want Sirius to be my dad! Is that an option?!" Harry seemed excited, squirming against Sirius' hold. "Padfoot, you can be my dad!" Sirius' heart constricted in his chest, beating faster than it had when he was shocked awake this morning. He would never really match up to James. He knew that. He could help fill the void. He just couldn't be a forever replacement. He pressed his lips to the top of Harry's head once again, wondering what James would think of all of this. _You dolt! He'd be so thrilled. There's a reason that he named you godfather. You need to start acting like you want the responsibility._

Saving Sirius from the awkward silence that threatened to engulf the room, Dumbledore asked Harry about his experience living with the two young men. Harry got excited and used hand motions as he talked about the games that they played and how Remus pretended to be an Auror and Sirius was going to send him to Azkaban. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled; he seemed generally pleased that Harry seemed to be enjoying his time with his godfather and friend.

The conversation seemed to last forever, until a knock on the door interrupted Harry's tale of Sirius' flying motorcycle that he got to try. "Come in," called Dumbledore. The large clock on the wall behind Dumbledore read 12:29. _Have we really been here that long?_ thought Sirius, as he turned to see who was entering.

In billowing black robes, a familiar hook-nosed man entered the room. "Ah, Snivellus, nice meeting you here," sneered Sirius. Harry turned in his godfather's lap, his emerald eyes locking on the man with the dark hair.

Snape's face curled into an unpleasant expression. "Professor Dumbledore, you didn't say you'd have such... company. Mutt," he greeted Sirius, his eyes squinted.

"Remus, Sirius, Professor Snape has been the Potion's Master since the end of the Great War. He's been a great asset to Hogwarts. I have a proposition for the three of you young men," Dumbledore said gently.

"Well, let's hear it," snapped the man called Snape. Harry shivered as Snape's eyes interlocked with his. He quickly buried his face back in to Sirius' shirt. Sirius rubbed Harry's back, muttering that he understood.

"I would like Remus to join us as Professor of the Defense Against the Dark Arts," Dumbledore said calmly. The expression on Professor Snape's face made it seem like he was trying to not explode. "I need your help, Severus, with being able to brew a Wolfsbane potion every month if Remus would like to accept."

Snape sputtered incoherent sentences that almost sounded like he was protesting even working for Dumbledore anymore, but he eventually stopped. "May I think about this, Professor?" Remus asked Albus, his eyes trailing from Albus' head that was nodding in agreement to Snape's angry demeanor.

"Of course. Now, if it suits you all, I have to meet with the Minister of Magic in twenty minutes." Albus was prompting them to leave. Sirius and Remus took the hint.

"Professor," Sirius said with a nod towards Dumbledore. "Professor Snivellus," he added with a mocking bow towards Snape as he stepped in to the Floo Network with Harry clinging to him desperately. Remus quickly followed, and promised that he and Sirius would talk about all of these developments once they had time alone.

 _It wouldn't be so horrible for Moony to teach. He's brilliant. And, that'd give me a chance to continue to prank Snape,_ thought Sirius with a grin as he played tag in the park across from the house with Harry. _It's also never a bad idea to be far from Dumbledore. Remus could use a job. This would be a good thing for him. He deserves it._ And with that final thought, Sirius caught up to Harry. He picked him up and tossed him in the air, catching him a second later, air full of giggles.


	6. Six

"How was the meeting with Dumbledore?" Sirius lazily asked as he lifted a glass of whiskey to his lips. Remus had just arrived from another meeting with Dumbledore about this job offer, and Harry was passed out in his bedroom.

Today had been exhausting for a million and one reasons, so Sirius decided that he had earned a nice drink before bed. Harry had hit this annoying developmental stage of asking _Why_ to every statement that Sirius made. _I should ban the bloody word,_ Sirius thought, taking a long gulp of the whiskey. It went down smooth; it wasn't like when he was fourteen, sneaking from his father's bottles. Then, it burned his chest and mouth. Now it just made him feel normal.

"I agreed to the job," admitted Remus as he sat down next to Sirius, loosening his tie. He had dressed up for this conversation with Dumbledore, wanting to prove that he could do it. If Snape could pull off working at Hogwarts, Remus could. Even with his furry little problem. Remus glanced sideways at Sirius' drink, but chose to ignore it.

Sirius set his now empty glass down on the table by the couch and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Why'd you go and do that, Moons?"

"Sorry?" Remus asked, truly confused.

"You know that money is no issue for me. You don't _need_ to work!" Sirius reached for the bottle of whiskey and filled his glass half full.

Remus looked at his friend, indignant. "Sorry that not all of us are able to just be layabouts, Black. I want to work; I want to prove myself." Sirius responded by taking a long swig from the bottle, followed by an equally large gulp of the whiskey in his glass. "Look - Sirius. I appreciate all the charity you've provided me-"

"It isn't bloody charity!" Sirius exclaimed, slamming the bottle and glass down on the table. "It's because I fucking need you here, Remus. I need help with him!"

Remus shook his head, and then reached across Sirius for the bottle. He grasped it with his fingers and pulled it close, taking a swig. The liquid felt foreign on his lips. He hadn't drank for years. After Lily and James died and Sirius killed Pettigrew (or so he had thought), he went on a binge. It had seemed to last forever, but by the time he was clear minded enough to realize that it wasn't the best way to cope with everything else going on, he quit the bottle cold turkey. Now he reserved drinking for nights like this. He didn't want to fight with his closest friend.

"It feels like charity," amended Remus, lifting the bottle to his lips once more.

Sirius eyed his friend warily. "I promise it isn't," he said in a low voice. "Look, I inherited everything from the Black family since Regulus was a bloody moron and got himself killed in the war. Everything defaulted back to me. I got the reparations from the Ministry, too. And the money that was in my account when I was arrested - fuck, that sat there just growing interest for all the years I was in Azkaban. I'm not trying to sound pretentious, but we could do this for a lifetime and Harry would still inherit my wealth. And he'll have his inheritance from James and Lily..." Sirius' voice trailed off, thinking about the stupidity of the money that both he and Harry had accumulated between the two of them.

"Look," Sirius continued, his cheeks red as he snatched the whiskey back from Remus, "Alls I'm saying is that we're well off. You could damn well say that you're living with the two most eligible bachelor's in the wizarding world." He winked at Remus. Harry was going to grow up and be a little heartbreaker, it was easy to see.

"Just let me do this," Remus' statement was more of a request. "I already said yes. I don't want to cause any problems."

Sirius nodded and took the final swig of what was left in the bottle of whiskey. "Why's he needing a Professor already? School's already started."

"Their Defense teacher had to leave due to an unexpected family emergency," Remus said casually. "I wouldn't have to live there," he added, looking at Sirius. "I mean, if the issue is taking care of Harry... I could use the Floo to go back and forth."

Sirius stretched, his arms overhead and legs kicked out for a moment. Although he was only in his 20s, he felt much older than that. "No, Rems, it's okay. Maybe Harry and I could buy a house in Hogsmede... be close to you that way... I could teach him how to sneak into Hogwarts!" Sirius' eyes lit up.

"You don't need to move, Sirius. I'll use the Floo and I'll be here as much as is possible. Besides, the benefits are that Professor Snape-"

"-Snivellus-"

Remus ignored Sirius' interruption. "Professor Snape, as I was saying, will be willing to brew the Wolfsbane for me. That's a life changing potion, Sirius. I can't turn it down."

Sirius nodded, understanding. "I understand. I get it. But, we're still going home shopping in Hogsmede. The yard here isn't that great and there's muggles - not that there's anything wrong with that, but I want to get Harry a broomstick - and we're farther away from Hogwarts if there's a crisis, and..." Sirius was rambling, not making much sense. Remus shrugged; if Sirius wanted to be foolish with his money, then it was on him.

"I thought you hate broomsticks," Remus chided with a smile.

"I do. I said I'll get _one_ for Harry."

"You'll need to go up to be there if he falls," reminded Remus with a laugh.

"Merlin's Beard. You have to stay with us. You can go after him!" Sirius nudged Remus in the ribs, laughing.

Remus laughed even harder. Maybe it was the whiskey, but this felt _good_. He couldn't remember feeling this content with his life since before the war. When they were in Hogwarts, everything was simpler. There weren't always muggles and muggleborns getting killed for no reason. Life even just ten years ago felt so much more carefree than it did now. Perhaps that was because as self-important teenagers, they were able to ignore much of what was going on in the outside world; it hadn't been until they were about to graduate that they really felt the pressure. The group of them -Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs - had already all agreed to work for Dumbledore after graduation. Life, then, felt intense. It didn't die down after James and Lily were killed; it just felt more lonely.

"What're you thinking about, Moony?" Sirius' voice interrupted his thoughts. Sirius' grey eyes danced with whiskey and concern.

"I was thinking about how better life was, ten years ago. Before the war. Before they died," he said quietly, a sharp glance to make sure that Harry was still in his room. He didn't see the boy anywhere. "It's been lonely without the four of us together."

"Wormtail was never-"

"I didn't mean Wormtail, Padfoot. Lily was part of our family from the moment they started dating. Maybe even before then. Lily was a good person; she was always willing to look past flaws that even we weren't willing to look past. She believed in second chances and romance and just the overall good."

Sirius nodded, his throat tying in a knot. "I know, Moony. Lily _and James_ were both good. And you had some of the worst of it. First you lost Mary, and then them. And me. And Wormtail," Sirius said pointedly.

Remus nodded, pushing the thought of Mary out of his head. "Why was it, Sirius, that you never found any of the girls fit to date? You did okay with them when we were at Hogwarts."

Sirius sighed, closing his eyes. "Because," Sirius said, "It was all fun and games at Hogwarts. I didn't have to worry about coming home to a flat I shared with anyone, finding them dead because of the stupid job I picked. I didn't want that. I didn't want to keep losing people. Losing people who were part of the Order was bloody hard..." Sirius' voice cracked as it trailed off. He kept his eyes closed.

"I know, Padfoot. I know. But maybe it wouldn't be bad for Harry to have a little female influence in his life," Remus suggested gently.

Sirius shrugged. "I don't know if I am capable right now. Everything is still so fresh. It still hurts."

"What's coming will come," Remus said knowingly. "We just have to wait for the right time, I guess. Until then, it's the last two Marauders against the world."

"And against Harry James Potter, the boy who never stops asking why."

Remus began laughing at the title Sirius had given to Harry, unable to stop. Pretty soon, for no real apparent reason other than whiskey, the two men were doubled over in laughter. Tears sprung to their eyes, and they soon had to gasp for breath. This felt good. This felt normal. This felt _happy._ Sirius wondered, _Is this what 26 is supposed to be like? Except in every dream I'd had of when I grew up and left Hogwarts, James was always going to be by my side. Maybe this is as good as it gets; maybe it'll get easier as time goes on._

"I should get to bed if Harry and I are going to go house hunting," Sirius admitted after several moments of silence elapsed.

"You really don't need to buy a house in-"

"You're right, Moony," said Sirius pointedly. "I don't _need_ to. I _want_ to. Besides, maybe it'll be better for Harry and I to be surrounded by people like us." Remus nodded at Sirius' logic as the two men stood. Sirius stumbled his way up the stairs.

Remus said a quiet goodnight as he reached his room, but Sirius continued down the hallway. He pushed open Harry's bedroom door, letting the light from the hallway illuminate a portion of Harry's face. He looked so peaceful and small, curled in bed with his arm around the stuffed hippogriff that Sirius had bought him.

 _It really will be good for Harry to be around other witches and wizards,_ Sirius thought to himself as he crawled into his own bed. He didn't care much about his nightly shower or bedtime routine. His head was spinning from the whiskey, but it was a good warmth that spread over his body. He was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

That night, Sirius dreamed of what it would be like to live so near to the castle that sprouted so many of his good memories. Harry, running in the fenced back yard of the house that Sirius dreamed up. No where near as stuffy as Grimmauld Place. Sirius would, of course, keep Grimmauld Place for himself as a secondary property, but to be free of the memories that haunted the halls here, that would be magical. And to be so close to Hogwarts and maybe even get to slip in to see Remus teach a class or two.. Maybe they could even get a puppy!

Sirius' dreams ran rampant as he slept through the night, dreaming of his new start with the Boy who Lived.


	7. Seven

Harry grasped Sirius' hand with uncertainty as they walked down the wet cobblestone street in Hogsmede. Sirius' head was held high, ignoring the stares of people from shops that lined the road. They followed quickly behind a man with a top hat, his arms swinging as he walked briskly. He was pointing out the different shops along the way as they headed out of the downtown area, his wand sparking as he waved it. Sirius Black was unsure why Dumbledore had suggested this real estate agent; he seemed a bit odd.

A flash of a camera went off in Sirius' peripheral, pulling Harry's attention away. He tripped slightly on the cobblestone, gripping Sirius' hand harder as he stumbled to catch up. Sirius looked down at Harry concerned. "You okay, pup?"

"Yeah's'ust goin' fast," murmured Harry, righting himself and shaking his head. He squinted his eyes, trying to read the sign ahead of them that exclaimed _For Sale!_

"You seeing okay?" Sirius asked. Harry shrugged. _I should probably take him to a doctor or something,_ thought Sirius, realizing that he hadn't in the two months that he had Harry. _With my luck, he'll hide her beautiful eyes with glasses like James did._

The real estate agent - Ainsley Carter - began up the walk to a modest house with a white fence around it. _How quaint,_ thought Sirius as Ainsley opened the door to the house.

"It's a nice place here, Mr. Black. Just a five minute walk, as you saw, to town."

"Mhm," murmured Sirius, scanning the house. _This place creeps me out,_ he thought, shuddering. He didn't often get "bad vibes" from places, and he had never been a fan of divination. "No thanks," he said, stepping out of the front door again. He ignored the glance that he got from the real estate agent; he appeared to be confused by Sirius, but wasn't wanting to turn down a commission.

"There's ano'er house not too far away," Ainsley murmured, taking off down the street.

Sirius and Harry found themselves outside of a well built house that looked fairly new. "I like this!" squealed Harry, looking at the yard that seemed to stretch for miles. "I like this yard! Can we get a puppy?" Harry asked as Ainsley seemed to cheer up with the excitement. Harry had been unnaturally quiet for a young boy, and Ainsley had the feeling that Sirius wouldn't put an offer on a house unless Harry was thrilled as well.

Sirius chuckled, "Maybe, pup. Maybe." Behind the house, Hogwarts rose magnificently. _I wouldn't mind looking at that view every day,_ thought Sirius, pleased with how well the castle could be seen. The forbidden forest lay between the house and Hogwarts, but did not cause concern for Sirius. The yard sat far enough forward from the forest that there would be no trouble.

Entering the house, Sirius was pleased. He dropped Harry's hand to let him explore. The house _felt_ calm. The rooms were spacious and Sirius rather appreciated the yard with the fence. After surveying the property for several minutes, Sirius glanced at Ainsley. "This is it. We'll take it."

Harry, who hadn't strayed far, perked up. "Really, Sirius? We can have it?!" Sirius nodded, and the boy flung himself around Sirius' calf. Sirius patted Harry on the head as Ainsley spoke about the process and paperwork that would be involved. Sirius waved him off, letting him know that whatever it took. By the end of the conversation, Sirius was assured that he would have keys to his new home by the end of the following week. The family selling the house just wanted it off of their hands, and with Sirius willing to pay straight gold for it, they were even more eager to accept the offer and move on.

Sirius kneeled down and beckoned Harry. Harry jumped on Sirius' back, wrapping his thin legs around Sirius' waist and arms around Sirius' neck. Sirius stood slowly, explaining, "We have to go to Hogwarts to talk to Dumbledore." Harry laid his head against Sirius' back, not caring that it sounded like the _most boring_ adventure ever.

"I wanna stay here," Harry murmured, longingly looking at the house that Sirius was walking away from.

"Soon, pup," promised Sirius. "We'll move in soon."

"And Remus?" Harry's voice was quiet as Sirius' feet hit the cobblestoned road.

"And Remus," confirmed Sirius. "You can probably say hi to him today, if he isn't teaching."

Sirius trekked his way to Hogwarts, Harry on his back. Harry was being remarkably quiet. It wasn't that Harry was ever _too much_ or overbearing, but Sirius was having to learn patience for all the questions and blatant observations that Harry made. _James would have been better at this,_ Sirius thought glumly as he approached the front doors to the school. _He always wanted this life; I was never sure._ Sirius loved Harry with his whole heart, but being a parent to someone else's kid - or his own - had never been a decision that he would have made.

Without asking, the doors to the school swung open and Sirius was immediately pelted in the face with a balloon that burst with water. Sputtering, he swung Harry to front side, protecting the back of Harry's head as he swiftly drew his wand. Another balloon catapulted towards him, and Sirius waved it off with his wand. He settled a little as he heard Peeeves' cackling cry. Peeves swung in to Sirius' view, and Harry pressed his face harder against Sirius' chest. He whimpered a little as Sirius clutched his god-son close and held his wand steady.

"What're you doin', Peeves?" Demanded Sirius, his eyes trained on the ghost that seemed to be bouncing off of the walls. Sirius stepped in to the entry, the large doors slamming behind him. He was surprised that there were no students in the hallway. _Then again, Black,_ he thought, _most students attend class, unlike what you and the rest of the marauders tended to do._

"I'm just giving you a bath!" Peeves' voice echoed as he continued to bounce off of the walls. He stopped long enough to peer at who he had hit. "Ah! If it isn't _The_ Sirius Black!"

Sirius rolled his eyes at the poltergeist. "Can I help you? Or can I move on with my task?"

"Sirius Black, still have that temper I see!" Peeves clucked, swinging close to Harry and Sirius. Sirius held Harry closer, trying to protect him from any nonsense that Peeves might create.

"I never had a temper," Sirius said evenly, feeling himself anger. Harry whimpered, clutching on to Sirius tighter.

"Oooh," Peeves giggled, doing summersaults in the air. "I heard you murdered all those muggles!"

"Shut. Up. Peeves." Sirius demanded, brandishing his wand at Peeves. It sparked red, matching the anger that he felt.

"Or you'll do what?" Peeves' voice carried rather far, Sirius realized as Peeves swung and grabbed a handful of his hair before letting go quickly. Sirius rubbed the back of his head as the doors to the Great Hall swung open. Dumbledore exited the Great Hall, the doors closing gently behind him.

"Ahh, Sirius. Harry," Dumbledore greeted the two men. "Peeves," Dumbledore added, eying the poltergeist who was making faces at Dumbledore. "Thank you for greeting our guests." Sirius glared at Dumbledore, dropping his hand from the back of his head.

Peeves saluted Dumbledore and began singing a song - _did he just say my name in that song?_ wondered Sirius - as he disappeared down another hallway. Before he could respond to Dumbledore, Snape slinked out of a corridor that lead to the dungeons. Sirius set Harry down, his hand still resting on Harry's shoulder. "I should have guessed that it was you that disturbed the quiet," sneered Snape.

"Ah, Snivellus. Can't make a love potion when you're distracted?"

Snape stepped closer to Harry and Sirius, his eyes darker than normal. "Shut up, Black. You and Potter should leave; you're not welcome here."

"Severus," Dumbledore said kindly. "I invited them to speak to me. They are always welcome here." Sirius resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at the fuming Snape. "How was house shopping, Harry?"

Harry's eyes brightened as he looked at Dumbledore. "We're buying a house there!" Harry exclaimed, waving his arms towards the front door of the school. "It has a big yard!"

"I see, my dear boy. Are you excited?"

"Yes, Sirius promised I could get a puppy-"

"-I did _not_ , Harry. I said I would think about it," corrected Sirius.

Severus snorted from where he was standing. "Not good enough, mutt?" Sirius glowered at him; Harry didn't know about that secret, and he wasn't particularly keen on him finding out. "You're moving from the beloved Black Manor? What's wrong, mutt, ghosts scaring you?"

"It seems more of a house for a Death Eater," Sirius retorted. "Perhaps you'd be interested in buying it? Although, for your type, Azkaban is the better fit, I believe."

"Enough!" Severus bellowed, producing his wand from underneath his billowing wands. "I will not stand to be insulted like this by a perpetual child who is obviously brain damaged!"

Sirius let go of Harry and gently shoved him in Dumbledore's direction. "A duel with you always leaves you smarting," Sirius reminded Snape, "But I'm up for the challenge to put you back in your place."

Both men shot silent spells at each other, lights clashing in between the two of them. Quickly, however, Sirius found himself disarmed. Confused, he looked around to see Dumbledore holding on to both wands. "Enough," Dumbledore stated, using Snape's word for him. "I will not stand to see the two of you duel. You can either be respectful, or I _will_ be asking you to leave."

Sirius had seldom seen Dumbledore interfere in anything, let alone raise his voice and get mad. Sirius shrugged and folded his arms across his chest. He was not going to apologize to the sallow skinned man standing across the hall from him. That would be beneath him, and it would be affording Snape a personal curtesy that he had never afforded the Marauders. _Especially after you tried to get him eaten by Remus,_ thought Sirius.

A joyful sound was emitted by Harry and Sirius watched a flash of dark hair rush past him and Snape towards another man. _Remus,_ Sirius thought. He watched as Remus crouched down and let Harry jump into his arms. Harry flung his arms around Remus' neck as Remus stood and held him close. "What's going on?" Remus asked the three men standing in the entrance hall, Harry clinging to him as if his life depended on it. _I need to control my anger, if only for Harry,_ Sirius thought, smiling at Remus.

"You know, just discussing our past careers," Sirius said slyly.

"Sirius called that man... he said that he eats death!" Harry informed Remus, pulling his head from Remus' shoulder to peer at Snape. Snape's eyes - if possible - darkened as they narrowed.

Remus looked bothered by this. He rubbed Harry's back. "Well, whatever Sirius was talking about," Remus started, shooting Sirius a deathly glance, "doesn't seem very nice, huh? And we're trying to raise you to be nice to everyone." Harry nodded, his bright green orbs reflecting the light from the windows. "Besides, Harry, Sna- Severus was one of your mums best friends when they came to Hogwarts."

Harry looked absolutely gleeful. One of his favorite things in the world was to hear about his mom and dad. Sirius tried to tell him a different story at least once a week for a bedtime story, but he assumed that Harry could hear a new story a day and never grow tired of hearing about Lily and James. Snape's face looked strained at Remus' words. He clearly did not want to relive that relationship here in the entrance hall.

"Did you know my dad, too?" Harry asked Snape eagerly.

Sirius shot Severus a look that dared him to be rude to his god-son. Even with Dumbledore still holding on to the two men's wands, he wasn't afraid to use hand-to-hand combat if he needed to. This was Harry; he'd do anything for Harry. Anything.

"No," Snape replied curtly.

"Sirius and Remus say that I look like my dad, but I have mom's eyes," Harry told Snape, excited. Snape looked pained, and he shrugged.

"I would like my wand back, so I can finish the potion that I was working on," Snape said uncomfortably, looking at Dumbledore. Dumbledore offered the wand to him, loosely grasping it in his long fingers. Snape approached Dumbledore and took the wand quickly. Dumbledore placed a hand on Severus' shoulder and whispered something inaudible. Snape seemed to register what he was hearing, and nodded briefly before sweeping out of the entrance way.

"Perhaps this conversation we were going to have can wait for another day," suggested Dumbledore airily, holding Sirius' wand out to him. Sirius nodded as he took the wand, unsure of what could have changed in just moments.

Sirius took a deep breath. "Albus, I apologize..."

"You don't need to apologize to me, Sirius. But Severus is part of Hogwarts and I consider him to be a trusted confidant. You can either respect the decision that I've made to trust him, or you'll need to relinquish Harry to me so I can find a better suited parent for him." Sirius' chest stung with a pang of hurt, and Harry screeched a 'No!' that Remus immediately shushed. "Then I suggest, Sirius, that you work out whatever this is between the two of you. It'll be best for Harry that way," Dumbledore reminded Sirius in a frustrated tone before sweeping up the stairs that flanked the center of the room without another word.

Sirius glanced at Harry and Remus and merely mouthed, _fuck._


	8. Eight

"Harry, we'll be right out here if you need us. Do try to enjoy the toys though," Remus stated to the green-eyed boy who merely nodded, picking up several matchbox cars to play with as Remus closed the door gently so that there was just a crack open to keep watch on the boy wizard.

Immediately following the scene in the entry way, Remus, Harry, and Sirius had made their way back to Remus' quarters inside the defense against the dark arts room. The bedroom - where Harry was playing with toys that Remus transfigured - was spacious and Sirius could see if Remus would want to stay here instead of the new house. Sirius and Remus sat in the sitting room, facing each other in two uncomfortably overstuffed chairs. Sirius watched as Remus brought out his wand, casting a silencing spell so that they could still hear Harry if he called out, but he couldn't hear them. It was a spell that Sirius found himself using more and more often lately, as Harry seemed to have the hearing of a hawk.

"You can't attack Snape for a year's old grudge," lectured Remus. Sirius felt his eyes roll back in to his head, as if he was having a seizure. "I fucking mean it, too." Remus' voice was sharp and cold.

"He's a death eater!" protested Sirius, running a hand through his choppy hair. It had grown several inches since Remus had cut it, but it didn't look bad on him.

Remus stood up, his eyes dark and unforgiving. "And he worked for the Order. If Dumbledore trusts him, then why can't you?"

Sirius rose to his feet, his face growing more and more red. "Because Dumbledore also trusted Pettigrew! He can be brilliant all he wants, but he's no fucking saint. Merlin's beard!"

Remus' face contorted with anger. " _You_ trusted Pettigrew; _you_ suggested him!"

"And I feel awful for that every day!" Sirius' eyes darted to the door that was cracked. Harry was placing army men on top of the matchbox cars, making it look like they were driving them. "I lost his family for him. That is my burden to carry. But to say just trust him because Dumbledore does? I'm not a stupid 20 year old anymore, Remus. It's too coincidental."

"Why would he want them dead? He cared for her, deeply." Remus shot back, his voice full of venom.

"You know as well as I do - he was angry that she chose James and not him."

"You don't know that for sure-"

"Merlin's beard, Remus! He swoops in to save the day when we think Lily's gonna die because he has to? And you can't tell me that wasn't the reason. He conveniently showed up the week before we learned that they needed to go in to hiding. He's a death eater, through and through. He's just as much to blame as Pettigrew!"

Remus' eyes narrowed further. "You of all people should know better, Sirius. Like Dumbledore has always said, it is who we choose to be that matters more than what we're born to be. You might have missed the memo since you were locked in Azkaban for so long, but the world is no longer split in to good people and death eaters. People are more complicated than that. Look at Pettigrew! Merlin himself was a Slytherin."

Sirius felt a rage growing inside of him. "Given the history," he spat at his friend, "I think that I know that you can overcome circumstances that you're born in to."

"Then you should be willing to give him a second chance, of all people." Remus wasn't budging on this topic, it seemed.

"Why do you care so much how I feel towards him?"

"Because," Remus' voice sounded strained and frustrated. "Because, I've been in his shoes. Because I've been the one judged based on my past. I've been the one who was thought to not be trustworthy. I was the one who felt so alone and isolated. What does he have going for him? I was in his shoes until I saw Pettigrew recently. I was alone. I wasn't sure what my purpose was in life. The way he followed Lily around this school when we were students - I don't think he's ever loved since then, if that's what it was. The ways he tried to apologize to her for _years._ Damnit, Sirius. He's probably alone and scared and how can he be friends, still, with the death eaters he would have known? We're twenty-six years old, for Merlin's sake. This isn't Hogwarts anymore; we're adults. You need to set a better example for Harry."

"Harry's being set a fine -"

"He is _not_ having a fine example set for him when it comes to treating others nicely. Pull your head out of your ass."

Sirius stopped, pausing to consider this. He hadn't thought much how his dislike for Snape might taint Harry's world view. He was in charge of raising this child and doing the best that he could. Perhaps Remus, in all of his Remus-like logic, was right about this; perhaps he should learn to forgive. Not forget - because how could he forget all of that? - but forgive. Maybe he could try to start over with Snape. Not being overly nice to him, but being nice enough that they were able to be in the same room with each other without trying to hex each other.

The other part of Sirius' brain - the less rational, still developing part - disliked this idea. He had known Snape for fifteen years. Fifteen years of Snape being a grade A slum ball. Fifteen years of watching him pine over a red head that his best friend had fallen for. Fifteen years of Snape attempting - and failing - to show him up in every way.

Maybe Remus was right, but it was hard to admit that. Years of rivalry had skewed Sirius' perception of the issue. Combined with the fact that Remus had much longer to mull this over - practically the whole time Sirius was in Azkaban - it seemed unfair that he be held to the same standards of accepting how life was now as other people his age. It wasn't that he didn't want to change; it was simply harder for him to move past twenty without putting up a fight.

"Fine," Sirius conceded.

"Fine, what?" Remus' voice sounded shocked; perhaps he figured that Sirius just wasn't going to respond.

"Fine, I'll attempt to pull my abnormally large and good looking head out of my ass."

"Ah, there's the Padfoot that I know so well," Remus quipped, a smile resting on his lips. If there was a bigger cheerleader for Sirius Black to healthily and sanely re-intigrate into the wizarding world, Remus hadn't met them yet. He wanted what was truly best for his best friend, but he also wanted his friend to face his prejudices and misconceptions head on, too.

Their conversation, although almost over, was interrupted by Remus' name being shrieked from the bedroom. Remus immediately ended their silencing charm as the two men bolted across the room for the cracked door. "We're coming, Harry!" both men bellowed, barging in to the room.

The room was littered with matchbox cars and army men. Thankfully magic was real, or else Remus would be cleaning his room forever. It almost looked like the toys that Remus had conjured for Harry had exploded. The two men scanned the room with their eyes, wands at the ready for any mischief. Harry was perched on the bottom shelf of a book shelf in the room- books spilled all over the floor in front of him. On his lap sat a photo album. Harry looked truly pleased with himself as he looked up at Remus and Sirius, unaware that he had ever scared the two grown men.

"What do you have there?" Sirius asked Harry curiously.

"Pictures! You and Remus and mom and dad!" Harry rambled, lifting the book for Sirius to take. Remus must have brought it from Grimmauld Place. Remus shrugged, but didn't reply. Sirius picked the book up, looking at the photos that he was presented with. Harry stood and lifted his arms up, a motion that Remus understood meant "pick me up!". Remus held Harry close as they peered over Sirius' shoulder at the album.

"Ah! Harry! Here's one of me and you!" Sirius exclaimed, excited. He pulled the whole photo from the album that he was holding, tossing the album on to the bed. In the photo, Sirius was balancing Harry precariously on the flying motorbike. Out of the corner of the frame, you could see a woman's leg and arm moving towards them frantically - Lily.

"See, Har, your mum _hated_ that bike. She didn't want us to fly," Sirius explained, laughing at the memory.

"That's not nice! I want to fly!"

"Me too, buddy," Sirius said, empathetically. "Anyways, me and your dad, we thought it would be funny to put you on the bike and then call her out. I started the bike like I was gonna leave, and oh man, Harry. I've never seen that mum of yours get so mad!"

"Did she yell?" Harry demanded, gripping on to Remus tighter as he leaned forward to get a better look at the photo.

"Oh, boy, did she ever," Sirius acknowledged.

"I don't think that Sirius was ever your mum's favorite," Remus said, his voice cracking with laughter. "He caused a lot of problems for her."

"I want to go on the bike!" Harry demanded, kicking his feet out. Remus held Harry steady, thanking Merlin that the boy had such a small frame, or he wouldn't be able to hold him like this as Harry flailed about.

Sirius set the photo down on top of the closed photo album. Before he could give an answer on the flying motorcycle, Sirius heard the door to the quarters open. "I'll check that out," Sirius told Remus, who set Harry down. Sirius heard Remus ask Harry to stay put as Sirius entered the living area, but ignored it largely.

Snape stood impatiently waiting in the living area, holding a flask. "A bit early to be drinking, isn't it?" Sirius' normally sarcastic voice held notes of laughter this time. He was trying to show Snape his best foot forward, that he could be civil.

"I thought you'd have left by now," Snape said with his usual cold drawl. "I'm surprised that Dumbledore didn't force you to leave. This is for the wolf, so his transformation tomorrow isn't so... primal."

Sirius reached for the flask as he reached Snape, but Snape held it close. "Not a chance I'll give it to you, Black."

Remus appeared at Sirius' side. "I'll take that," he said softly, his light eyes searching Severus' dark ones. "Look, Sirius and I had a talk. I think it'd be easier for all of us to move on if we cooled it down a little." Remus' voice was full of promise and compromise. It was confident, which Sirius realized that Remus had developed more of when he was on his own. Prior to Sirius going to Azkaban, Remus had held confidence, but it was often marred by the exhaustion of the missions. Today, at Hogwarts, it made total sense and made Remus sound like the oldest person he knew.

"I see," Snape stated simply, the draw of his words infuriating Sirius. _Keep it in check,_ Sirius thought, shaking his head.

Remus now held the flask in his hands. "The same instructions that you were already given, Lupin," Snape confirmed the unanswered question.

"I appreciate you making this for me."

"As if I had a choice. Now, if that'll be it-" before Snape could finish his thought, a blur of dark hair and giggles latched itself on to Snape's leg. Harry had come bursting from the bedroom through the two men that he knew, and threw his arms around Snape's leg. All three men looked confused; Snape's confused look also held a look of disgust.

"Can I help you, Potter?" Snape demanded, trying to move his leg so Harry would fall to the ground.

"Look!" Harry exclaimed, thrusting a photo towards Snape's hand that was outstretched only to peel Harry off of his leg. He gingerly took the photo from Harry, who immediately let go of the man that Remus said was okay to trust. The photo held a dancing and singing Lily, located in the living room of the home that she, James, and Harry had shared in Godric's Hollow. Her face was practically illuminated with joy.

Snape looked uncomfortable, and tried to give the photo back to Harry. "That's my mum! Remus said that you were friends!"

"We were," Snape confirmed, waving the photo for Harry to take it. Snape looked utterly uncomfortable in this situation. His hair had fallen into his eyes, and Sirius could easily see him as the sniveling 17 year old that he had seen in school. Snape didn't look much older than 20, even though he was the same age as Remus and Sirius. He had aged well, but perhaps that was because he had always looked so _old_ as a teenager. The war seemed to have been easy on Snape, but Sirius knew that wasn't true either.

"Can you tell me about her?" Harry pleaded, reaching his arms up for Snape to lift him. Snape started at Remus and Sirius dumbfounded.

"I'll be going," Snape responded with a cold snap. Before either of the men could protest, Snape turned on his heel and swiftly exited the room from the door he had come in at, photo still in hand. Harry sat on the floor, looking defeated.

"Why don't my mum's friends like me?" Harry wondered out loud.

"Sometimes," Remus said gently as Sirius picked Harry up, "Adults are hard to understand. I think that Snape would love to talk to you one day about Lily. But today didn't seem like a good day."

Harry nodded, but tears had sprung to his eyes. He desperately longed to know about the people from whom he had come. He desperately wanted to feel as if he felt in. "I just want to go home," he said softly, the tears streaking his cheeks without any other noise. Sirius held Harry close, kissing the top of his head.

"I'm going to do just that, Remus. Have a good... night," Sirius said softly as he made his way towards the door that would take him to an accessible floor network.

"And you," Remus acknowledged as Sirius and Harry left him standing there, holding the flask of WolfsBane.

 _Merlin's Beard, this is so complicated._


	9. Nine

A blood-curling scream woke Sirius from an other wise sound sleep. They had been living in the house at Hogsmede for about a month now, and this sound had become more and more frequent as of late. Without bothering to slip on a t-shirt, Sirius fumbled in the dark towards Harry's room. His wand lit with _lumos_ illuminated the hallway that the scream echoed down.

Harry was thrashing in his bed; tangled in his sheets, sweat on his forehead. "Harry," Sirius said calmly, placing a caring hand on his shoulder. Harry's body slowed thrashing, but he continued to whimper and make noises that indicated he was unhappy.

"Harry," Sirius said more firmly, gripping his young god son's shoulder a little tighter. Harry's green eyes flung open and his tiny hand clasped Sirius' wrist tightly.

"You're okay," Sirius promised, taking his free hand to wipe Harry's hair out of his face. Harry was drenched in sweat, even though it wasn't that hot in the bedroom.

Harry gasped for air before sitting up straight. The small framed boy looked absolutely petrified. "Sirius," he said, sounding out of breath. "is it real?"

"Is what real?" Sirius asked cautiously. Harry reached his thin arms up, wrapping them around Sirius' neck as Sirius bent over him. Sirius sighed and plopped down next to the boy, pulling him closer.

Harry was shaking. These nightmares had happened occasionally at Grimmauld Place - mostly when Harry was still new to living with Sirius - but since moving to Hogsmede, they seemed to be a several-times-a-week occurrence. Sirius wasn't sure what was causing them. Remus suggested that Harry had recently been through a lot of trauma, and the stress of moving again, however positive, might have triggered memories that he had been trying to repress. Sirius conceded that Remus was smarter than him, and therefore was probably correct in his assessment.

Sirius' hand rubbed Harry's back through the shirt that Harry had picked out for bed. It exclaimed _Chudley Cannons_ in bold print, with little snitches and quaffles dotting the shirt. "I heard a lady," Harry murmured, pressing his face to Sirius' chest. "She screamed and then there was a green light and then she was gone." Harry's voice was soft, scared.

Sirius tensed. _He couldn't possibly remember that night, right? When do people get memories?_ Sirius racked his brain, but couldn't think of an earlier memory than being five and tumbling down the stairs due to a mishap during hide-and-seek. It was the first time that Sirius had to drink skele-grow, as far as he could remember.

"Who did the voice belong to, Har?" Sirius' voice was gentle, soothing. It was almost as if this parenting - however much Sirius wanted to say he was awful at it - came naturally to him.

"I don't know," Harry whimpered, clinging tighter to Sirius.

"Okay, little one. It's okay. I'm not going anywhere," promised Sirius. He placed his lips on the top of the lightning bolt scar that was jagged across Harry's forehead. His eyes closed, holding his best friend's son closer. "It's okay to sleep," Sirius promised once more.

"Stay." It was the simple request from Harry that made Sirius' heart skip a beat. He wanted to promise that he'd stay forever, that it was his job to stay. It had been his job to stay when Lily and James died, too, and Sirius hadn't done well with that job. Sirius also knew that one day, he would get old and frail and die. Staying wouldn't always be an option. Sirius pushed his dark thoughts from his mind on the subject of staying, and held Harry close. The request didn't need a verbal answer.

Sirius didn't sleep well that night, plagued by what he thought Harry's dream could have been. He desperately wanted to go wake the sleeping lycanthrope in the other room and ask him about theories, but he had agreed to stay for now. He could ask Remus for his opinion in the morning. Harry wasn't in any immediate danger, so there was no harm in waiting through the night. The night felt as if it dragged on and on, Sirius occasionally falling asleep here and there, but waking to Harry's breath against his chest.

Harry was his life now. Everything he did was for Harry. James had tried to explain the feeling once before, but Sirius never understood. Harry had always had other people to fall back on- James, Lily, even Remus was more responsible than Sirius. But it felt that since Sirius had discovered how the Dursley's had treated their nephew, Sirius finally understood. Even when he was released from Azkaban, he hadn't been able to fathom how much his life would alter. It was if Harry was the sun. Harry was the center of the Universe in Sirius' world; the dog star merely navigated based on the sun's actions. Everything Harry did created a reaction in Sirius; his duty was to make sure that Harry never had to worry about anything ever again.

Sirius, a young 26, was finally growing up. Sirius was finally understanding what being a parent meant. It didn't mean giving birth - or getting someone pregnant. It meant loving someone so much that you would lay down your life for them. Sirius would have always been willing to sacrifice his life for Harry; Sirius had just never understood how far his was willing to go. Even when Lily and James had to go in to hiding, it had never seemed like life and death. He and James had joked about the hiding shortly after it happened. They were just waiting out Voldemort; life would go back to normal in a few weeks.

Weeks had stretched into months - that summer, they must have been in hiding the whole time. Sirius racked his brain, trying to figure out when the fidelius charm had been cast, but came up short. He just remembered it was a few weeks before Harry's first birthday. Maybe a bit longer. Sirius and James had taken bets on how long the family would have to remain hidden in plain sight; neither of them had guessed it would have been as long as it was. Neither of them guessed that James' family wouldn't have made it out alive from the house in Godric's Hollow.

Sirius' eyes snapped open for a final time, the sunlight streaming in to the bedroom from the large window that Harry had. Harry was still in his arms. The clock on the wall read 10:33 am. It was far past when Sirius normally woke, and far past when Harry normally woke. Sirius recognized that on nights where Harry had horrible nightmares, he tended to be more cranky and tired the following day. Remus, again, had suggested that the nightmares took a mental toll on Harry that an average amount of sleep couldn't cure. Once again, this made sense to Sirius and he accepted this as fact.

"Harry, wake up," Sirius murmured, shaking the slight boy who was still pressed against his chest.

Harry blinked his marvelous green eyes open, trying to focus on Sirius. "Hey Padfoo'," he responded, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. Sirius smiled and sat up.

"Come on, it's past time for breakfast. I bet Remus will be wondering what we're doing," Sirius joked, stretching his arms above his head. Harry nodded and sat up, mimicking his god-father.

The two men made their way to the kitchen, where aromas of pancakes, bacon, and sausage wafted towards them. "Ah, there you two are," Remus said with a smile. "I was just coming to wake you both. Breakfast is ready." Remus looked back at the _Daily Prophet_ that was laid out on the dining room table he was sitting at. He seemed engrossed in a story.

Sirius assisted Harry in getting his plate of breakfast food and then followed suit. "Thanks for making breakfast, Moons," Sirius said happily, his mouth full of pancakes.

"Mouth closed when you're eating," Remus corrected, rolling his eyes. "Besides, it's Saturday morning and I figured you two might enjoy something."

Harry seemed to be shoveling his food in his mouth, eating faster and faster as Remus reminded them that it was Saturday. Harry loved Saturdays; Remus didn't have to work and Sirius liked to spend them outside in the backyard. Harry normally got to ride the small broom that Sirius bought him on Saturdays. He loved the feeling of being in the air. Sirius had charmed the broom to not go more than ten feet up, but to Harry, it felt like miles above everything.

"And you, Mr. Potter," Remus started with a smile. Harry's green orbs met Remus' eyes as he chewed, cheeks puffed from how much food was in his mouth. "Slow down on the eating. I know that you're eager to get outside, but it'll still be there in three minutes." Harry smiled, if possible, and gulped.

"Will you ride a broom today, Remus?" Harry asked, pushing his plate towards the center of the table. Sirius was eating just as eagerly as Harry had been, much to Remus' annoyance.

"I could do that. Maybe Sirius could get the quaffles out and we could practice a little tossing them back and forth? Your dad was an amazing chaser. We used to spend a lot of time throwing the quaffles at him," Remus reminded Harry.

"I like the snitch better," Harry explained, his eyes seeming to light up more than normal. Sirius had bought Harry a full Quidditch kit. The only thing that Harry hadn't been allowed to play with were the bludgers. Even if Sirius charmed them to not actually hurt Harry, he was afraid that even just the motion of one flying at Harry quickly might be enough to make the boy tumble.

Remus nodded his head. "You are good with the snitch. We could get that out, I suppose. Sirius could referee since he doesn't like to fly. That way, I know you're not cheating." Remus winked at Harry, and then reached over and ruffled Harry's already messy hair.

"Okay! But he should tell me if you're cheating too!" Harry acknowledged before getting up from the table. Before Sirius or Remus could say anything, Harry bolted out the back door and in to the yard. Sirius wasn't concerned about anything bad happening in the backyard; Dumbledore himself had come to the house and assisted Sirius with the protection charms for the house. Sirius was confident that although he wasn't going to leave his god-son unattended for long, ever, he could let Harry attempt to experience a normal life most of the time.

Remus and Sirius both shrugged at the boy's enthusiasm. "I'll grab the stuff," Remus conceded as Sirius grabbed both of the plates that were on the table. He placed them soundlessly in the kitchen sink, not wanting to even bother with cleaning them until after this Quidditch adventure was complete.

Sirius glanced out the window of the kitchen to the view of the backyard. Harry seemed to be engrossed in something, although Sirius couldn't tell what. "Hey, what do you think he's doing?" Sirius asked Remus who was attempting to sneak to the front hall closet to grab the brooms and snitch.

Remus stopped and squinted at Harry. "It looks like he's talking to something?" Remus' voice sounded quizzical. It didn't make sense; there was obviously no one there. Harry was visible through a side profile, and both men could see his lips moving. His hands were on his hips and he looked absolutely determined.

"Remus, I don't like this," Sirius said, panic rising in his chest. _What if something was able to get through the wards? What if Harry's about to get hurt?_ wondered Sirius, as he reached for Remus' arm. The two men quickly bolted out the back door to investigate. Sirius drew his wand as he reached Harry first.

"What are you doing?" Sirius asked Harry, trying to keep the fear from his voice.

"I'm just talking to Ralph," Harry stated innocently, not bothering to look at either man who were exchanging looks. They were both confused. And then, a hissing sound emitted from Harry's lips. Harry's eyes looked like the were dancing, and his head bobbled a little side to side.

Sirius shot Remus another alarmed look, steadying his wand towards the garden that Harry was hissing at. "Harry, who is Ralph?" Sirius' voice was calm. It was the practiced calm that he had learned when he went through his Auror training. It was the calm that he used when he was actually _really fucking scared,_ but had to maintain like he understood what was going on. It was the calm that Remus had always hated to hear from his Marauder friend; the same calm that Sirius had in his voice when Remus, Peter, and Sirius learned that there was a threat on James, Lily, and Harry's lives.

"Ralph," started Harry patiently, not bothering to look up at Sirius, "is him!" Harry motioned to the garden snake that was peeking through the flowers in the garden bed.

"And what is he saying?" Remus' voice interrupted the tension in the air.

"He's saying that he wishes that more people would talk to him. He's lonely," Harry informed them, before more hissing sounds came out of his mouth. "He wants to know where the old man that used to live here went."

"I'm not sure," Sirius said truthfully.

"Ralph says they were friends, but he couldn't talk to him like this. Ralph is six years old, just like me!"

Sirius felt like he was about to burst at the seams. He couldn't let his god-son do this. He hastily glanced at Remus before grabbing Harry up in to his arms. "You'll need to say goodbye to Ralph for now," Sirius told Harry as he began to march towards the house. They needed to floo to Hogwarts to see Dumbledore, and they needed to do so before this spun any further out of control. Sirius heard Harry hiss several more syllables as they walked away from the snake. Remus was quickly following the two, understanding where Sirius was going to go.

 _A parseltongue, really?_ thought Sirius as he grabbed a handful of floo powder and asked for Dumbledore's office.


	10. Ten

It had been fifteen minutes since Sirius, Remus, and Harry tumbled into Dumbledore's floo, interrupting a meeting between Snape and Dumbledore. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at the trio, but Snape looked utterly beside himself. He was angry, perhaps at his time with Dumbledore being taken up. Dumbledore had asked if the three could wait, and all Sirius could blurt out was: "Harry talks to snakes!"

That had been enough to get both mens attention, eyes glued to the boy wizard who looked as if he was threatening to throw a tantrum over the lack of Quidditch. Harry didn't often have meltdowns, but when he did, they were awful. Sirius quickly conjured up a Snitch and handed it to Harry, who then busied himself with attempting to catch it as it zoomed around the office. Dumbledore summoned two more chairs in front of his desk; Remus sat dutifully between the two men who couldn't stand each other.

"What could this possibly mean?" Snape wondered outloud after Sirius finished retelling the story of the nightmare and then the incident in the garden with the snake.

"It means he bloody talks to snakes!" Sirius snapped. Harry could be heard giggling in the background, and Sirius twisted in his seat in time to see the young boy jump and almost grasp the snitch before falling on his bottom. Harry grinned at Sirius before getting up and trying again. The portraits of Headmaster's past were split between murmuring about this being an office and children shouldn't be allowed to play, while others marveled at the joy the young boy seemed to be experiencing. Sirius focused his gaze back on Dumbledore.

Dumbledore's steely blue eyes felt as if they were piercing through Sirius' soul. "I know it's rare, Professor, but could it just be a recessive gene in the Potter line?" Remus' voice was soft and unassuming. Sirius racked his brain; James had never mentioned _anyone_ ever having talked to snakes.

"I don't believe so," Dumbledore said with a heavy sigh. His chin rested on his long fingers as he closed his eyes. "We'll need to exclude Harry from this conversation." Sirius had to strain his good hearing to hear what Dumbledore had said, and his brows furrowed.

"Shouldn't he be included if it's about him?" Sirius demanded, annoyed.

"He is _six_. He doesn't need to know the way of the world," Dumbledore said, almost daring Sirius to disagree that he would rather have Harry overly involved in everything.

"Perhaps I'll be going while you speak to these two," Snape said, acknowledging that he was maybe not the person Dumbledore needed seated in front of him. "We can resume our conversation later." Snape stood.

"Stay, Severus. This has to do with what you promised all those years ago," Dumbledore said softly. He cast a charm so that Harry couldn't hear the four men discussing his life. Sirius doubted that Harry would have cared, either way, when he could be so easily occupied by the snitch he was chasing. _Just like James used to,_ Sirius thought, a spasm paining his chest as he remembered all the days spent down by the lake, snitch in sky.

Severus looked stricken, and sat immediately. Sirius glanced over at the Slytherin, and felt confused. _What did Snape promise? Does this have to do with him coming to the Order right before the end of the war? What is Dumbledore playing at?_ "Sir?" Remus asked, breaking Sirius' thought process.

"Voldemort isn't dead," Dumbledore said slowly. The words sounded rancid coming out of Dumbledore's mouth.

"Excuse you?" Sirius' voice was booming and demanding. He now understood why Dumbledore had cast the charm. He wouldn't want Harry to have to hear this fight. "James and Lily are dead - Harry's got that scar, and you've got the audacity to say that Voldemort isn't dead? Merlin, Dumbledore. Obviously _you_ never went to Godric's Hollow that night. There was nothing left!"

Dumbledore sat back in his chair, putting his hands up to stop Sirius' rant. "I understand what you think you saw, Mr. Black."

"Don't you condescend to me!" Sirius felt the anger he felt inside welling up. Angry that his friends had given their lives. Angry that the other members of the Order had died. And for what? _Voldemort has to be dead; otherwise he would have come for us by now. How can Dumbledore be this stupid?_

Dumbledore's blue eyes felt like they were piercing his soul. "Mr. Black, think back to..ah, I believe it would have been your seventh year in Defense. Do you remember the professor briefly mentioning a Horcrux?" Sirius racked his brain before shaking his head no.

"Wait- Professor... Are you saying that Voldemort has a Horcrux?" Remus' voice sounded scared, and Sirius really wished he could remember what that was.

Dumbledore nodded slowly, taking in the three men in front of him. Snape seemed to understand immediately - _of course he would, that slimy git. I knew that he was a fucking dark wizard. This should be enough proof that he can't be trusted. Why is he part of this anyway? Nothing that he_ sacrificed _in the war should warrant his presence in this conversation,_ Sirius thought. Remus' face looked pained. Sirius just looked confused, and scared.

"What's a Horcrux?" demanded Sirius.

Dumbledore began to explain the complex process that was creating and obtaining a Horcrux. He went into details about Horcruxes that even Remus and Snape had not previously known. "Essentially," Dumbledore said slowly, stroking his long, white beard, "It is extremely dangerous. There aren't many successful cases of this happening in history. I do, however, believe that Voldemort _was_ successful at this."

Sirius gawked at Dumbledore. He _did_ recall learning about Horcruxes. He had dismissed them as readily as the Professor had. _Didn't he say something like, 'oh, don't worry, no one has ever done this'?_ Sirius tried to recall the lesson accurately, but continued to fall short. He ran a hand through his choppy hair before closing his eyes. He felt like life was crashing down on him.

"So what does this have to do with Potter?" Snape sneered, clearly agitated by something. _Probably by existing,_ Sirius reasoned with himself.

"I believe that Voldemort unknowingly created a Horcrux," Dumbledore said slowly. "We know that Voldemort isn't dead- stop with that look, Sirius - and I believe that he's in hiding. I believe he is too weak with his fractured soul. I've been doing this research since Harry was able to win in the fight. I had always wondered how Harry survived, but I think that given this circumstance of speaking to snakes, the dream you described, and his unusual magical power, it is reasonable to believe that he could have part of Voldemort's soul him."

Sirius dropped his head into his hands, trying not to throw up. He felt Remus place a comforting hand on his back as the tears started to stream into his hands. "This isn't a death sentence," Dumbledore said softly.

"How is it not, Professor?" Remus asked the question that was constricting around Sirius' heart. He felt sick. He was thankful that he had Remus.

"The prophecy," Dumbledore said slowly, before Snape cut him off.

"The prophecy stated, Dumbledore, that neither could live while the other survived."

"How do you know that?" snapped Sirius, pulling his head from his hands. His cheeks were red and tear stained.

"Because, Black, I was the one who warned Dumbledore of Voldemort's thoughts that it could be the Potters, you insolent child!" Snape's voice was sharp, full of anger. _Why's he so angry about it? He and Lily weren't even friends anymore, and Voldemort killed off James. Snape hated James, so why does it matter?_

"The prophecy that caused James and Lily to hide?" asked Remus, wanting to clarify. Neither Sirius or Remus had been privy to all of what the prophecy said. It had been dangerous times, and while Sirius and Remus had been able to talk to James about why he was going in to hiding ("Because, mates, Dumbledore's nervous. There's a prophecy, but then he said he wasn't sure if it was true... so he would rather be safe than sorry!"), James had never given them full details.

"Yes," Dumbledore confirmed. Sirius snapped his head back to look at Harry. He was laying on the ground by the exit of the office, marveling at the snitch.

"If he's got a piece of Voldemort in him, " questioned Sirius, "then why isn't he all bad?"

"Sirius, I think you of all people should know that you can overcome your circumstances. I believe that Harry is a bright, lovable young boy. Having a piece of Voldemort in him doesn't make him bad. It just adds a complexity like we had not expected."

"So what next?" Snape's voice was short and to the point.

"We do not tell Harry of this. One day will come when Harry needs to defeat the Dark Lord again, but until then... we tell him nothing of this. Our duties to Harry include raising him to be the best wizard he can be. Teach him everything that he needs to know to defeat Voldemort for good. And in the spare time, we can work on killing off the rest of Voldemort's horcruxes. I have an idea what some of them might be, but without being able to decide _how many_ there are, it might be hard to accomplish. And I'm sure that he didn't just leave them laying around carelessly."

Sirius' head was spinning. "You want me to raise my god-son so that he can be slaughtered?" His voice sounded weak, like he was defeated. _Maybe we can just move to America. I've heard that the wizards there are coming around and the community is really vibrant._ Although ludicrous, Sirius just wanted Harry to be as far away from Dumbledore and stories about horcruxes as possible.

"No, Sirius, I do not. I fully believe that we can train Harry to win in this fight. He's not ready yet - we need to continue to shelter the boy. And Sirius, you have the most important job of all. You need to continue to _love_ the boy, so he knows it."

"Love him!? I'd give my life for him. I'll fight Voldemort instead of him!" Sirius bellowed, standing. He placed his fists on the front of Dumbledore's desk top. His eyes burned with rage. _How does he not understand my love for this boy?_

"Sit," Dumbledore instructed, and Sirius did as he was told. It was as if he was a school boy once again, unable to stand up for himself when Dumbledore's gaze pierced him with those blue eyes.

Sirius looked to his right. Remus looked just as distressed as Sirius felt. Snape looked... uncomfortable and pained. _Why does he care?_ Sirius wondered, trying to force the grief away that threatened to consume him.

"I'm not even sure if Voldemort know of this connection, although I'm sure he will find out eventually," Dumbledore said slowly. "I don't know where Voldemort's... remains are - in hiding, trying to gain strength to come back again. This is Harry's fight. It won't happen tomorrow, but it'll happen eventually. We just need to make sure that Harry is ready for it all."

Sirius felt crushed. How could he accept this? He was raising a six year old to die. _And for what?_ Sirius wondered. _It's not possible that the former Death Eaters would risk being associated with Voldemort again. It's not possible that there are still so many people willing to fight. The light has to outweigh the dark this time, doesn't it?_ Sirius felt like his head was swirling. He couldn't do this. He couldn't.

"You need to stay here," Sirius said to Remus, finally certain of something. _I'm going to grab Harry. We're going to leave. Go somewhere, anywhere. We can't have contact with these people. We can't be part of this. If we run, we can hide better than Voldemort can. We have endless amounts of money, we can buy supplies along the way._ Sirius' anxiety over the situation was clouding his thoughts and feelings. There had only been one other time when he had felt so rash - when he went after Peter Pettigrew in an attempt to kill him for the betrayal of their best friends.

"Sirius..." Remus started, his voice failing as Sirius stood up. Sirius canceled Dumbledore's charm that he had cast before stepping towards Harry. Harry looked up at his god-father, a smile on his lips. He showed Sirius the snitch, eyes wondering if he could keep it. Sirius didn't respond to Harry's unasked question, but merely scooped the small framed boy up in his arms and entered the floo. He didn't need the men in this room; they were making his relationship with Harry messier than it needed to be. _I don't need their help_ , thought Sirius as he bellowed out the name to his floo network in Hogsmede.

"Alright, Harry," said Sirius, a pained sounding tone in his voice as they hit the floor in the house they shared together. "There's a suitcase in your room, I need you to pack your favorite things."

"Where are we going, Padfoot?" The young boy looked up at him with bright green eyes, full of trust and love.

"Wherever you want, mate. We're going on a vacation, as far from here as we can go," he promised as they started up the stairs together.

 _I will do whatever it takes, to keep him safe. I promise, James, that I'll keep him alive for you. I'll lay down my life if I have to,_ vowed Sirius silently to his best friend. He had faith that James and Lily were watching down on Harry and Sirius right now. He had faith that he was doing the right thing by his friends, and that they would have expected him to do nothing less than to protect their son with everything he had.

 _I feel like we just got here,_ mused Sirius as he began tossing articles of clothing into the open suitcase on his bed. _But, starting over never hurt us before._


	11. Eleven

Sirius rubbed his eyes as he sat up in the bed he was laying in. The sun streaming into the bedroom was blinding, causing him to blink several times. Sirius looked to his left, smiling at the blond tuft of hair barely visible from underneath the comforter. Looking towards the door of the hotel he was staying in, Sirius summoned the paper that was waiting for him.

 **THE MIAMI HERALD,** July 30, 1987.

 _Already almost his birthday,_ Sirius thought. Harry had been living with Sirius for about a year now. He had grown four or five inches in that year, and put on about seven pounds. He looked so much healthier and happier than when he had been found. He still had nightmares, but mostly of "that green light and lady screaming". Sirius was proud of his god-son and how far he had come in that year.

Sirius also felt a pang of regret. Harry and Sirius had been on the move since the conversation with Dumbledore, Snape, and Remus over seven months ago. _I wish Remus could be here with us. He deserves to be able to celebrate Harry's birthday too._ Another voice in Sirius' head told him, _your exile is self-imposed. If you would like to go back to that, go ahead._

Sirius was torn, and he had been for months. He knew what Dumbledore _speculated,_ but there was no concrete evidence that Harry _was_ a horcrux. That's what Sirius had to keep telling himself to make this easier. How could you love someone so much, when Voldemort was part of their soul? It made no sense. Harry wouldn't be so lovable if he had any part of Voldemort in his body. _Obviously Dumbledore is wrong and is just trying to tear our little family apart again,_ Sirius reminded himself, trying to calm himself.

Since they had been on the run, Sirius and Harry had been using glamour charms to hide their identities. They continued to change their location, every week or so. They didn't stay in places for long, due to Sirius' paranoia of being found. Harry was willingly going on the trip with Sirius under the guise that they were just seeing the world for a year. Christmas had been spent in Paris; New Years in Madrid; bouncing amongst sunny places around the world. Harry's hair was now charmed blond, and his face was splashed with brown eyes. Sirius also had charmed himself to have blond hair and brown eyes. They could easily pass as father and son, and often times did.

Now, they were in Miami, FL. They were only here for a few days, mainly to watch the American Quidditch match tonight. It was supposed to be one of the biggest games of the year - Florida versus Michigan. Sirius enjoyed following American Quidditch, as some of their players appeared to be better than most of the players in the European league. Sirius had scored Harry and himself a box at the game tonight, and he could hardly contain himself. Harry had also taken an interest in American Quidditch and was especially excited to see Jake Andrews, the seaker for Michigan, play tonight. They had caught some highlights in a wizarding newspaper they got a hold of in Salem, and Harry had been enthralled by the story.

Sirius flipped through the newspaper that spoke of a crime spree in the area, the beach weather, and tourism. He wasn't that interested in what the paper had to say, but sometimes it provided him with fun ideas for him and Harry to do in the area. If it were just him, Sirius knew that he would be picking up women and laying on the beach all day. Unfortunately, with an almost seven year old in tow all of the time, it limited his opportunities to have adult time.

Next to him, Harry stirred in the bed. "Hey, Harry," Sirius murmured, reaching over to fluff the blond hair.

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed, throwing his blankets off of him. "Sirius!"

"Yes?" Sirius' voice was confused, and somewhat alarmed. Harry _never_ woke up like this.

"I had the best dream ever!" the young boy exclaimed, standing on his feet and beginning to jump. Sirius pulled his knees to his chest so that Harry wouldn't trip over his ankle as he bounced around.

Sirius' eyes watched with intent as Harry bounced around on the bed, up and down... up and down. "What was the dream about?" Sirius asked cautiously.

"About my birthday! It's tomorrow, in case you forgot!" Harry exclaimed, plopping on to his behind.

"Uh-huh," Sirius responded. His head was starting to hurt. Harry could go from zero to 100, and Sirius didn't quite feel equipped for it every day.

"Yeah! We're going to go to Hogwarts! We're going to see Remus!" Harry informed his god-father.

Sirius immediately felt his stomach clench, not thinking that it was the best ideas. He didn't want to have to face what Dumbledore thought. He wanted to escape forever. He didn't want to have to face his friend that, for the second time since knowing Remus, he had abandoned. He wanted nothing more than to just let the earth swallow him up. _Perhaps I do belong in Slytherin; the moment that this got hard, I ran away. I protected my interests before I was willing to be brave and face them._

"I don't know if that's possible," Sirius said delicately. He didn't want to hurt his god-son. _Everything I do is for you,_ he thought, frustrated. _Can't you make an easier birthday wish?_

"It is," Harry said. Sirius blinked, marveling at how sure he sounded. "We're going to go and have cake with Remus and he'll have balloons for me."

Sirius sighed, closing his eyes. The mental image of seeing Remus again - he was terrified Remus would take one look at him and then use the killing curse. _I'm just trying to best figure out how to raise James' son. I am just trying to do my best,_ he reasoned, trying to convince himself that running away to protect Harry was the only possible option. _But,_ another voice in his head reminded him, _if this is true, you could find the Horcruxes and destroy them. If you destroy them, Voldemort can't come back._ Sirius opened his eyes. Maybe Dumbledore would have worked out a plan by now.

"Fine," he relented, his voice sounded wary.

Harry jumped up and wrapped his arms around Sirius' neck so tight, Sirius thought his head was going to explode. "I love you so much!" Harry exclaimed, kissing Sirius on the cheek. The young boy then bounded off the bed and towards the bathroom of the hotel. "I have to get ready for Quidditch and can I have my brown hair back yet?" he yelled from the bathroom. Sirius shook his head, unable to respond as the water to the shower was turned on. Today had been a whirlwind of emotions, and it was only just getting started.

Hours later, Harry and Sirius were sitting in a private box, watching the two American quidditch teams play. The game had started nearly two hours ago, with no sign of the snitch. Florida was barely winning, with a score of 50-40. Their lead chaser had just been pulled off the field by medi-wizards after one of the beaters from Michigan had hit a bludger towards him; it had connected with his skull in a crack that Sirius was sure the who arena had been able to hear. The quidditch player had fallen to the ground, only to be magically slowed by the responding medi-wizards who were on standby at the side of the pitch. It had been a clean hit, all things considered, and hadn't caused the beater to be tossed from the game, much to the chagrin of the Florida fans.

"Sirius! Look!" Harry exclaimed excited, pointing his finger towards the Michigan chaser who had stolen the quaffle from Florida and was hurriedly flying towards the opposite side of the field.

"I see!" Sirius exclaimed, leaning forward to watch the play. The chaser threw the quaffle. It happened almost in slow motion; the keeper lunged for it as another bludger came flying towards the keeper. The keeper dodged the bludger by inches, and the quaffle soared through the middle ring.

 **"Ten points for Michigan!"** boomed the announcer's voice over the loudspeaker. The voice was almost drowned out by the cheering crowd. Although the game was taking place in Miami, many people in the stands were wearing Michigan colors - green and black. Miami's team wore a bright blue and coral color.

Harry jumped up and down, screaming with the excitement that only a six year old could manage. Sirius glanced at the clock; it was already 8:30 PM. If the game went too much longer, they wouldn't be able to stay for the ending. "Harry, it's almost your bedtime," Sirius reminded his god-son gently after Harry stopped his celebration.

"But, Sirius!" Harry protested, looking up at Sirius with his chocolate brown eyes.

"But Sirius nothing," Sirius reminded him firmly. "You better say a prayer to Merlin that the snitch is caught soon, or we'll have to go. You don't get to stay up late, just because it's your birthday... especially if you're wanting me to magic us back to Hogsmede for your birthday."

Harry pouted, trying to convince his god-father that it was going to be a-okay. After realizing that it wasn't going to work, he turned his grumpy mood back towards the game. Another player - this time on the Michigan team - was hit hard with a bludger, but they were able to hold on to their broom and make it safely to the ground. The player was cradling his arm in a manner that suggested there might not be a bone left.

And then, out of nowhere, both seekers zoomed past the box that Harry and Sirius were occupying. "Sirius!" Harry exclaimed, pointing his finger towards the gold glint of the snitch. It was flying lower and lower, enticing the men chasing it to dive rapidly.

The two seekers were both engaged in a nose dive. _I hate this part,_ thought Sirius as he watched the two men, probably younger than him, spiral towards the ground at breakneck speeds. _Thank Merlin that I'm not the one on that stupid broom,_ he reminded himself.

Without warning, the snitch shot back towards the sky and - if Sirius was seeing correctly - was now hovering behind the keeper for Florida. The crowd erupted in cheers as the two men raced towards it, the keeper oblivious to where the two men were heading. And then, as if time slowed and then sped up quickly, the seeker for Michigan collided with the keeper from Florida, sending the two men spiraling towards the ground. The seeker from Florida dove rapidly as the two falling men reached for their brooms.

The seeker from Michigan was able to grasp the handle of his broom, slowing his fall. Sirius watched wide eye'd as the seeker was able to pull himself back onto his broom. The keeper continued to fall towards the ground, seemingly picking up speed the farther he fell. And then, as if out of nowhere, his broom appeared and he was able to hoist himself back on to it.

"But - Padfoot - where's the snitch?" Demanded Harry, who hadn't pulled his eyes from the action since the first glint of gold had been seen.

As if it was in response to Harry's question, the seeker from Florida held up his hand, victorious. Fighting against his fingers was a barely visible snitch. The Florida crowd erupted in to cheers as the team gathered in the center of the pitch. The young men on the team seemed joyful as the Michigan team quickly collected themselves - and their egos - and sulked their way off of the field.

"This was the worst game ever!" cried Harry, stomping his feet.

"Why do you say that?" Sirius asked, shocked. The game had been rather good; there had been blood and injuries and a surprise ending. He had thoroughly enjoyed the game.

"Because the wrong team won!" Harry exclaimed, exasperated at his guardian. It was as if Sirius knew nothing, by the tone in his voice.

Sirius chuckled and then shook his head. "I think it was a brilliant game. I think that you're mostly mad because your team didn't win. But, Harry, remember, life isn't all about winning. They played a good game, and I respect them so much more for playing fair. Maybe we just need to get you back to Hogsmede so you can get some sleep?" Harry shrugged in response, which Sirius took to signal that he was correct in his assessment.

Sirius picked up his god-son and they began to fight the crowd to leave the stadium. Sirius would have much rather been able to apparate from the box that they had been in, but the area around the stadium was a no apparation zone. Before they had even crossed the street outside of the stadium, Harry's body was limp in Sirius' arm. His god-son had fallen asleep shortly before leaving the stadium, even with all of the noise in the air. _He's so gentle,_ Sirius reminded himself. _That's how I know that he can't be part of what Dumbledore thinks. He's too pure._

Sirius walked for several blocks, getting away from the crowd. Although he and Harry were still disguised, he still worried that someone would be able to recognize them. It hadn't happened yet, but Sirius remembered the words of a friend from the _Order of the_ _Phoenix. **Constant vigilance!,**_ rang Mad-Eye Moody's voice in his head. The saying had saved his - and James' - asses more than once during the war. With a sigh, Sirius took in his surroundings. When content with the fact that there was no one else on the dark street he had chosen, he apparated with Harry in his arms.

Sirius stared up at the house he owned in Hogsmede, feeling a weird sensation. It was late. The street was quiet and still. Pulling his house keys out of his pocket cautiously, as to not wake Harry, he found the correct key and opened the front door to the house that Harry and Sirius had chosen to live in together. Sirius placed his house keys on the kitchen counter as he continued to hold Harry. Without a second thought, he started towards Harry's room.

A light in the house flicked on, and he was met with a wand in his face. His still brown eyes were staring in to those of a disgruntled - and sleep deprived - looking Remus Lupin.

 _What? No welcome home?_ Sirius wondered as he put his hand up to steady Remus' anger.


	12. Twelve

The seconds seemed to take hours, waiting in the dark. Sirius' eyes blinked from the light of the wand that was just centimeters from his nose. _Merlin,_ he thought, his deep brown eyes radiating fear. He was in a house that he owned, afraid for his life. It had been years since he had that experience, and it hadn't been an experience that he had been wanting to relive anytime soon. Yet, here he was.

Remus' eyebrows furrowed, taking in the two blonds in front of him. Sirius was able to see when the understanding of _who_ was standing in the house seemed to dawn on Remus. His eyes lightened and he lowered his wand slightly. "Sirius?" Remus' voice was soft, confused, scared.

"Can I put Harry to bed, or..." Sirius' voice trailed off, very aware that Remus hadn't completely lowered his wand. Remus didn't verbally answer; he simply nodded and Sirius started up the stairs to his left. He made his way to Harry's room in the dark, like it was ingrained in his memory.

Opening the door to Harry's bedroom, Sirius realized how clean and pristine it was. It could have been the house elf, but Sirius suspected that it was simply Remus. He laid Harry down in to the clean sheets that were on the bed. Harry stirred slightly. His voice was weak and raspy, but he still managed to say Sirius' name.

"Shh... it's okay. We're home now," Sirius promised Harry.

"...stay?.." Harry's eyes fluttered open and then immediately closed. He sighed deeply as he settled back in to sleep.

"Forever," promised Sirius, pressing his lips to Harry's forehead.

Sirius waited a moment to make sure that Harry was actually asleep before slipping back in to the dark hallway. He silently made his way down to the living room, wand drawn just in case Remus wanted to throw a spell his way. _I don't think that he would, but..._ Sirius' feet hit the hardwood flooring with a soft thud, causing Remus to look up from the news paper that was in his hands.

"What are you doing?" Remus' voice very thinly hid his anger.

"I'm standing in the living room of the home that I own. What are _you_ doing?" Questioned Sirius, trying to sound innocent.

Remus' eyes narrowed, and he raised his wand to Sirius again. "You know what I mean, Black."

Sirius recoiled at the venom in Remus' voice. It had been years since Remus had spat his last name back at him like that. Sirius racked his brain, trying to think. _The last time that happened was after I almost fed Snivellus to him. That hadn't been a good few months. It was hell,_ _actually. Probably similar to what I put him through these past few months..._ Sirius gaped at Remus, who lowered his wand slowly.

"Where have you been?" Remus' voice sounded forced and nervous.

Sirius sighed, and ran a hand through his blond locks. With a simple flick of his wand, his hair returned to its normal color. "We've been everywhere," admitted Sirius. His light eyes flickered with fear at what Remus was going to say or do. This Remus - angry Remus - was unpredictable. Angry Remus always made Sirius feel like he needed to apologize, even if he was in the right.

 _Remus has to understand; I was just protecting Harry. I was doing what James and Lily would have wanted. I was just doing my duty as his guardian. Only I could do this... he has to understand!_ Sirius' internal dialogue sounded as if it was turned up to 100. He was surprised that Remus couldn't hear how loud his brain was screaming, wanting to fight.

"Sirius..." Remus' voice held a tone of warning. Sirius knew not to mess with him. He recounted his tales for Remus. "Why did you come back now? It's his birthday." Remus' voice was flat. He was not amused with Sirius' story of how they traveled the globe.

Sirius' mouth felt dry. He hated fighting with his close friend; he hated that he had been dumb enough to believe that he could run away from that conversation. "Harry wanted to see you for his birthday."

"You don't need to flatter me," growled Remus. He raised his wand once more.

"I'm not!" insisted Sirius. "That's what he asked for. I've missed you, but I wish it would have been anything else!"

"Why?" Remus narrowed his eyes.

Sirius sighed deeply, and rubbed his face. "Look, I'm tired. Can't we finish this in the morning?"

"We'll finish it now," Remus informed Sirius, poking Sirius in his chest with his wand.

Sirius pushed Remus back, grabbing his wand wrist. "You watch where you're aiming that; you're in _my_ home." Sirius' voice sounded threatening and scary; Sirius wasn't joking around.

"The home that _you abandoned_!" argued Remus, twisting his wand wrist from Sirius, sparks flying from his wand.

"What is your problem!" Shouted Sirius, snarling at his best friend. "You're mad because we left-"

"-Because you bloody kidnapped him! You left. You didn't tell anyone where you were going! You didn't explain that you weren't coming back for a long time. You think that's okay?"

Sirius felt his stomach knot; he had expected this, deep down. That didn't make it feel better. _This fucking sucks._ "I was doing what I thought was right. I didn't want Dumbledore to be right. It isn't fair for Harry. He's suffered enough. He doesn't need this hanging over him."

"Then we don't tell him! Not until he's much older!"

"So you believe it then?"

Sirius knew, deep down, that if Remus believed it, especially after all of these months, then it was probably true. As much as that thought hurt his stomach and made him feel defeated, he knew that he had to trust that Moony was correct. _I've been running from the truth for so long; I knew that this was likely the outcome. At the end of the day, Dumbledore is probably one of the most brilliant wizards to have lived, second to maybe Merlin. I knew that this was coming. Remus has been here through everything... but... fuck, that doesn't make it any better. How do I protect and raise Harry to love and be good when he's possibly got Voldemort's soul in him._

"Yes, Sirius. I trust Dumbledore with my life. Why would he make this up?" Remus lowered his wand, his eyes looking pained. Sirius knew that it was the look that Remus got when he was trying to digest difficult information. _Life is so unfair. First James and Lily..., and now he wants me to admit that I'll be okay raising Harry for the slaughter?_

"I don't know," admitted Sirius. "I've tried not to think about it, since he told us. I've tried to just... forget." Sirius' voice cracked, and he looked down at the floor. The tears that he hadn't let spill since hearing this information cascaded down his cheeks. He had thought that if he didn't believe these things, that if he only ever reacted with anger and disdain for Dumbledore, that he wouldn't ever have to face the truth. And yet, here was Remus... confirming his worst fears. _How can I survive losing Harry?_

Almost as if Remus had read his mind, Remus responded with the words that he needed to here: "There's hope."

"There's hope that Harry's not a Horcrux, or there's hope that I'm not raising a brilliant young boy into a brilliant young man, only to have him slaughtered?" Sirius' voice held so much bitterness, that Remus took a step back. This was _not_ the man that Remus had watched recover from the horrors of Azkaban. This was not the man that Remus had seen be deserted by his family, only to have another family take him in. This was a man who was truly defeated and torn at the prospect of one more loss in his life. The cards had always seemed to be so unjustly stacked for Sirius, and yet he had always seemed to hold his head high and manage. Remus could see now that it had just been a facade.

"Sirius," Remus said gently. Although Remus was mad at his friend for taking off and leaving, he was starting to see _why._ "Dumbledore has a plan."

"What's that?" Sirius' voice was numb. His eyes were still downcast, and he looked much younger than his age. He hastily wiped at his cheek with his hand, but it was easy to see how upset he was. Sirius didn't show his emotional side often, but when he did, it seemed to all spill out.

Remus fished in his pocket for a moment before producing half of a candy bar that was still wrapped in the foil that it came in. "Eat this," he murmured, and Sirius readily took the candy that came from Honeydukes. The piece of chocolate melted in his mouth, filling him with warmth. _Remus has all sorts of tricks,_ he reminded himself, thinking about all the times as a teenager that Remus fed he, James, and Peter chocolate after disappointing test results, hard breakups, and (for James) rather public rejections by Lily Evans.

Remus had paused the conversation for a moment as Sirius digested the chocolate. "Dumbledore is currently doing extensive research in to Voldemort's history."

"So?" Sirius didn't see how this was connected; who cared where that piece of shit came from? He was threatening Sirius' family, and had already killed the two most important members of it.

" _So_ ," Remus said, pointedly, slightly annoyed at Sirius' dismissal tone. "He is trying to figure out where everything went wrong. He's trying to figure out what objects might matter the most to Voldemort - or, Tom Riddle." The name Tom Riddle rung a memory in his head; Dumbledore had once provided them with very basic information about Voldemort when they had joined the Order of the Phoenix during the last war. It wasn't to glorify anything that Voldemort was doing in the community, but it was to provide the Order with information that people might try to confuse them with. It had proved to be useful at some points, especially as an Auror.

Sirius remembered vividly showing up to the home of a known Death Eater. His partner, James, and he had burst into the house. The Death Eater had been there, but denied having ever met Voldemort. Knowing the date of birth of the Death Eater, and the house he had been sorted in ( _it couldn't have been anything other than Slytherin!_ ), Sirius and James had been able to apprehend the Death Eater. The Death Eater had been in the same year (and house) as Voldemort, when he had been known as Tom Riddle. Although this Death Eater had tried to play it off - not seeming up for the fight against the two Aurors - they had been able to send him on a one way ticket to Azkaban.

Back then, Azkaban had a mix of wizard guards and Dementors. The Ministry, in response to the fall of Voldemort and wanting to appear harsh on those who had supported the Dark Lord, had switched to Dementors only. Sirius shuddered, remembering the day the last Auror had left their post, leaving Azkaban to the Dementors. Once or twice a month, several Aurors would do walk throughs on the island, but for the most part, the Dementors kept everyone in check and there was no need for the wizarding community at large to worry.

"How far along is he?" Sirius decided to stick to practical questions only at this point; his heart couldn't take any more pain.

Remus shrugged. "He's rather quiet about it, but I do know that he's doing fairly well in tracking down some of the memories. There's a lost of spots that are missing, but he was able to get ahold of people who had known him at Hogwarts who hadn't been Death Eaters. Then there were a few muggles that had been neighbors with him, I guess. Dumbledore didn't say where he grew up, but he made it sound like he had been able to talk to people who knew him as a child. Anyway, the way Dumbledore briefs us-"

"-Us?" Sirius interrupted, his eyes darkening.

"Snape, Sirius. Snape is on our side, through and through." Sirius pursed his lips, but didn't say anything against the information Remus was providing him right now. He knew that he needed to hear this. "Anyway, Dumbledore provides us updates every few months. We're due for another one soon."

Sirius inhaled deeply, and then closed his eyes. He knew that he needed to apologize. He just didn't want to. "Look, Remus. I am truly sorry that we took off. I was..." he searched for the right word, but was surprised when he heard it come from his friend's mouth.

"Scared. You were scared," Remus acknowledged.

"Yes. I was scared," admitted Sirius.

"So was I. That conversation was the worst thing that I could have imagined. But, Sirius, what scared me more was watching you take off with Harry in a hurry. It scared me so much after I came back here, hours later; I tried to give you space and time to cool off in because I didn't want to interrupt whatever you needed... and you and Harry were gone. Things were missing. Do you not understand how that hurt me?"

Sirius bowed his head, nodding it slightly. "I am so sorry. Twice, now, I've cost you your relationship with Harry. I can't fix that; I can just promise that I'll always try to do better. Running is what I know, Remus," Sirius said softly, lifting his eyes to his friend. "I ran from a family that didn't love me; I ran to kill the man that truly deserved to die that night; I ran... when I learned... the... _truth_ ," Sirius' voice sounded pained.

"You're stubborn," admitted Remus. "You're one of the bravest people I know - becoming an Auror during the war, when your family had put a target on your head. Staying my friend after I admitted that I was a werewolf. You've loved bravely and deeply despite everything. I shouldn't have blamed you for leaving with Harry; I know that you were just trying to make the problems go away. But running away doesn't solve everything, Sirius."

"I know, and I'll do better. I promise."

Remus nodded, and a silence hung between the two men. It wasn't uncomfortable, but it was laced with tensions. Sirius didn't know how to fix it. He lifted his head, his blue eyes pooling with tears once more. He ran his shaky hand through his messy, unkempt hair without thinking about it. And then, as if Remus knew what Sirius needed more than Sirius knew what he needed, Remus stretched his arms out. They were welcoming a hug from his best friend, opening up to the idea that this relationship was repairable.

Sirius flung himself into Remus' arms, and broke down into sobs as Remus' arms tightened around him. He pressed his face against Remus' shoulder and sobbed loudly. Sirius kept repeating the same things - "Please don't let me lose him!"; "Please help me keep him safe!"; "I can't keep losing everyone!" - into Remus' shoulder as Remus rubbed his friends back. There had been many a time that this had happened when they were at Hogwarts, but it was normally Remus sobbing into James' or Sirius' shoulder; the other two had always seemed so strong and composed.

After what felt like an eternity, Sirius lifted his head from Remus' shoulder and broke the hug. "Thank you, Moony. I don't know what came over me."

"You needed it." Remus' voice wasn't judgmental; it was compassionate and wishful that he could fix all of Sirius' problems. Sirius nodded glumly.

The clock on the wall struck six AM behind Remus' head. "Merlin, it's six AM already," murmured Sirius, rubbing at his eyes. "Might as well not even bother going to bed at this rate. Want a cup of tea with me? You could fill me in on everything _you've_ been up to since I saw you last?" Sirius raised his eyebrows jokingly at his friend.

"Of course, Sirius," Remus said, starting towards the kitchen. "I can tell you about all the witches I've bagged and tests I've graded!"

"Wait-" Sirius shouted, trailing after Remus. "You bagged more than _one_ witch?! I need all of the information!"

Remus chuckled heartily, flicking his wand towards the kettle. "I think that you and I have forever to catch up. I don't think you're going anywhere, again."

"Damn straight. We're going to fight this, Remus. And we're going to win."


	13. Thirteen

Harry's birthday went off without a hitch, as far as Sirius could tell. Remus surprised them with a cake that he had made in Hogsmede on a rush delivery. Harry had played in the backyard all day. There had been no interruptions - just the three of them. Sirius had enjoyed the solitude and time spent with Harry and Remus.

But now, days later, Sirius was struggling to even get out of bed. He was plagued with worry. The normally carefree man had found two grey hairs on his head, which he attributed to the Horcrux problem. He wasn't hungry, he wasn't interested in seeing anyone. He just wanted to be left alone. _I'm failing as a God-Father. How can I help Harry when there's nothing to do but to let him die?_ Thoughts like these plagued Sirius' mind, causing him to feel as if he was surrounded once more by dementors.

Remus had encouraged Harry to ignore Sirius. He had told Harry, "Sirius is just sick. You guys have been traveling a lot, and he's pretty old. He just needs time to rest." Harry had bought Remus' story, and hadn't detected Remus' apprehension about the situation.

Sirius, embarrassed for letting himself feel so hopeless, had started to play dead every time Remus entered his room to check on him. He would close his eyes, as if he was asleep, and not acknowledge anything that Remus had said to him. Sirius knew that he wasn't being mature and that talking to his friend would be helpful, but he was unable to muster up the courage to express all of his feelings about Harry at this time. He had done so the other night, when he sobbed all over Remus' shoulder... but he believed that he should have "gotten it out" of his system by now, and that moping about it wouldn't help at all. Unfortunately, for all of his waking hours - and in his dreams - he was plagued.

Last night, he dreamt that Harry was older. He looked so much like James, with Lily's eyes. In the dream, Harry was talking to Sirius when, in the blink of an eye, he had morphed into Voldemort. The shell of Harry's body had fallen to the ground, and Voldemort whipped out his wand, killing Sirius on the spot. Voldemort then rose to power again, and the wizarding and muggle worlds both suffered.

And so, in response, for the first time in his life, Sirius Black had given up. The curtains were drawn on the windows. The covers were pulled over his head. He didn't see a need to leave his bedroom for anything - how could he look at Harry, love on Harry, to know that he was just going to be killed in several years time? _He deserves more than I can ever give him._

"Sirius. you've got a visitor." Remus' voice was soft. Sirius hadn't even heard the door to the bedroom open.

"I don't want a visitor." Sirius' voice was flat and lacked emotion. He didn't bother to pull the blanket off of his face. _If I lay like this long enough, whomever it is will go away. They'll probably just assume I'm dead._

"My dear boy, it isn't really a request." The voice was most definitely not Remus'. The voice belonged to a man who the very thought of made Sirius' blood boil.

"Dumbledore," Sirius snarled, pulling the blanket off of his face.

"I'm glad to see that you and Harry are well, Mr. Black." Dumbledore's tone was even, but his blue eyes sparkled. He was daring Sirius to argue.

"So what do you need?" Sirius' voice was still snarled in anger; he strongly disliked Dumbledore. He couldn't help but think that if Dumbledore had really known what he was doing, that Voldemort wouldn't have ever made horcruxes. As irrational as it was, Sirius was not in a place to be rational.

"Sirius," Dumbledore warned, "I understand that you're still processing everything. Remus reached out to me this morning. He's worried about you. And seeing the state you're in, I find myself worried as well."

Sirius' dark hair, although not long, appeared to be matted. His eyes were bloodshot, and stubble graced his face. He looked like a train wreck. Emotionally, he felt like an even bigger train wreck. Sirius didn't respond to Dumbledore's concern. _It's rich of a man like Dumbledore to be concerned, when he was going to have me raise my god-son for slaughter._

"I see that you're mad at me." There wasn't a question there; it was a mere statement.

"When were you going to tell us?! That you even suspected that fate?!" Sirius exploded, not caring that Remus and Harry might be able to hear him. He flung the covers off of his body, revealing a thin frame dressed in sweat pants and an oversized shirt.

"Sirius, my dear boy, please list-"

"- _No!_ " Roared Sirius, angrily. " _You_ listen. _First,_ you left Harry to be with those awful muggles. You knew _full well_ that Harry wasn't receiving adequate care - _you knew before you left him there that Lily's sister would never love him!_ And then, you have this stupid, careless idea that Harry might be... a _Horcrux_ ," Sirius choked out the word that burned his throat, "And you were just going to let me raise him like you didn't even suspect. You were going to force me to say goodbye again!"

Dumbledore's eyes shined in the light, not revealing any of his inner most thoughts. "Can you calm down now?" Dumbledore asked, his voice sounding tired. Sirius had heard that tone many times before - when he and James had played a prank that almost ended in disaster; the time he tried to feed Snape to Moony; the time he sat the Marauders (and Lily) down to explain that the Potter's needed to go into hiding. _Tired is defeat_ , Sirius thought, realizing that if Dumbledore was tired over a simple conversation - or argument - about this Horcrux business, then it really was an important topic. He bit down on his lip.

"Yes. I'm... not sorry," Sirius stated, deciding to be honest with his feelings.

"You needn't be." Dumbledore's voice still held the tired sounding tone.

"When did you know?" Sirius needed to know. His voice wasn't tired; it was demanding. _We're talking bout Harry's life. He needs to be upfront, honest. If he isn't... how can I lose any more of my family? How can I lose the last piece of James and Lily that I have. My memories won't last forever... Harry's all I got. And, I promised._

Dumbledore shifted his weight slightly before deciding to sit on the end of the bed. He looked older than Sirius had ever realized, his robes a cool periwinkle color. Dumbledore stroked his long, white beard as he looked at Sirius. It was easy to see that Dumbledore was thinking, but Sirius had no clue what he was thinking about.

"I knew," Dumbledore said slowly, looking at the closed bedroom door before looking back to Sirius, "That night. The night that Lily and James died. I had wanted to believe myself wrong, but as Harry grows in his trust for you and as he becomes more part of our world.. it's hard to ignore. The Parsletongue is not a bad thing, but it is what confirmed it for me."

"Why?"

"Voldemort himself is a Parsletongue. I had suspicions that he was creating Horcruxes, but I never came across one. I had hoped - a small part of me wished - that he hadn't been successful. I've spent the past several months trying to gather more information on his childhood and teenage years."

Sirius looked confused; his brows furrowed and his cool eyes appeared to be muddled with apprehension. "Why does any of that matter?"

"I'm hoping if I can gather more information about who Voldemort was - about Tom Riddle - before becoming the... Wizard that everyone knows of, that it might be able to provide some valuable insight into what objects we're looking for."

"How does knowing who he is help you find Horcruxes?" The tone of Sirius' voice was more compliant than it had been; it had lost the snotty tone that it had been holding previously in the conversation.

Dumbledore stroked his beard again, watching Sirius for a second. "I'm hopeful that we start finding more information about who he killed, when... and what objects would have called his attention to turn them in to dark magic objects. Voldemort is a very proud man.. proud of his magic, proud that he's been able to overcome many things in his life. He would have chosen objects that have meaning to him. It's identifying those objects that have meaning that is important. Without that, we cannot destroy the Horcruxes."

"So... where do we start?" Sirius was sitting up fully now, his eyes burning with intensity. _Of course I'm going to go on all of the missions I can to find these objects. I need to destroy them before he can come back._

"We have a long time to figure it out," Dumbledore stated, as if reading Sirius' mind.

"No! The sooner we figure it out, the better. We can kill him before he's strong enough to come back! We won't ever have to worry about this," Sirius insisted, showing off his streak of impulsivity that had been famous when he was younger. The same impulsivity that caused him to go after Peter that fateful night; the same impulsivity that had caused he and Harry to flee when Dumbledore had a similar conversation with him nearly a year ago.

"Will you be the one to kill Harry, then?" Dumbledore asked. His tone was steady.

"No! Harry won't need to -"

"He has a part of Voldemort in him, Sirius. To destroy all of the Horcruxes means destroying Harry as well."

Sirius felt tears begin to stream down his cheeks; he couldn't believe this. This was his worst fear. "There must be another way," murmured Sirius. _How can this be the only way? There has to be another way._

"I think that the weaker we can make Voldemort before Harry has to go face-to-face with him, again, the better his chances of survival are," Dumbledore admitted. The old man hadn't had a lot of experience with Horcruxes, but he was able to explain the basics. _I_ _wonder how much he really knows about them... will he be our best asset?_ Sirius thought, trying to rack his brain for people who might had had more information about Horcruxes. _I think that Dumbledore - as callous as he is - might be the best choice for learning all we can about these dark objects._

 _"_ Admittedly," Dumbledore said, clearing his throat as he interrupted Sirius' thoughts, "I have more learning to do on the subject. I've only ever seen it in theory; I've never known someone to be successful in making it. I believe that he has a number of them - hidden Merlin knows where - and that Harry was an accidental Horcrux. I don't think that Voldemort ever intended for this to happen."

"Then..., how do we defeat it?" Sirius' voice was confused as he searched the old man's blue eyes.

"The memories; figuring out what might have been important. But I need you to do something for me."

 _Anything for Harry. Anything to help him beat this monster._ "Anything," Sirius said eagerly, not missing a beat. His impulsivity was good and bad; he made rash decisions, but he threw himself full force into situations that asked for more. Sirius would do anything for Harry, without thinking about the consequences. _Harry is my life. There's nothing else that matters more than him._

Dumbledore cleared his throat at the sound of Sirius' eager answer. "You need to continue to live. It doesn't help you to dwell on the _what if's_. James and Lily wouldn't have wanted that; they'd have wanted you to live carefree and provide the best for Harry."

Sirius hung his head, knowing that Dumbledore was correct. "I'm sorry, sir."

Dumbledore stood up and patted Sirius on the shoulder. "It is no harm - bad things happen all the time, Mr. Black. But you need to remember that the darkness cannot swallow us whole, if we chose to fight it. Harry needs you. All of you. He cannot continue to grow and he cannot learn to defeat Voldemort if he doesn't have you in his life. You're already doing the most important thing to help prepare Harry for what is to come."

Dumbledore reached for the door knob to the bedroom. "Sir - what is the most important thing I can do to help prepare him."

"I thought it'd be obvious, young man." Dumbledore paused; the door was open and his hand was still on the knob. Sirius looked at him, perplexed. "You need to _love_ Harry, so he knows it. It's easy to see how much you care," Dumbledore said, gesturing to Sirius' appearance. "The very thought of losing him has torn you to pieces. But, you must carry on... you must continue to love him - and let him know. It'd be a fools mistake to not."

With that, Dumbledore exited the room with a final step. Sirius flopped back onto his back, staring at the ceiling. _Of course I love Harry; of course he knows it._ There was not a doubt in Sirius' mind about how he felt for Harry, how he would do anything in his power to make sure that Harry was always taken care of. It was his duty, as the best friend of Harry's deceased parents and as Harry's god-father. When it came to Harry, nothing got in the way.

 _That means, Black,_ Sirius thought, sliding his legs off of the side of the bed as he sat up, _It is time to start living. You can't mope. But you can start training Harry, if only for self-defense purposes._

"I'm not going to lose you, too," Sirius whispered under his breath as he made a beeline for the bathroom. He needed to clean up and put effort in to his appearance before he could start training young Harry against a darkness that Harry couldn't even fathom.


	14. Fourteen

"Okay, Harry, pay attention now!" Sirius' voice was firm. Remus sat on the back porch with a smirk, sipping on his coffee as he watched the two. They had been outside for well over an hour, Sirius _attempting_ to teach Harry how to do summersaults, backflips, and front flips. Sirius had his own fair share of mishaps for the day. He had either been missing his landings or falling outside of the zone that he had magic'd to be soft for Harry to fall in.

Remus had warned Sirius before he brought Harry outside, that Sirius would likely not feel as good the next day as when he was an Auror and in good shape. Sirius was still healthy and thin.., but Azkaban hadn't provided him a lot of time to practice his summersaults and flips. Sirius, however, was determined that he would do what needed to be done to at least help Harry so that if all else failed, he could take the opposition by surprise.

Remus wasn't sure exactly what was said to Sirius last week when Dumbledore met with him privately, but Sirius had seemed to be recharged by the conversation. He had showered and then came downstairs to where Remus and Harry were playing hide and seek with that look in his eyes that always gave Remus a sense that he needed to be the mind of reason even more so than normal. Sirius had a determined look - and he hadn't lost it.

Sirius had wanted to start this the same day of his conversation with Dumbledore, but Remus had pointed out that he didn't even have a _plan_ on what he was going to teach Harry. Remus had, much to Sirius' disdain, reminded him that he needed some sort of plan and to tone it down with Harry's age in consideration. Sirius had eventually relented, and... well, that's how the men and Harry had wound up a week later in the backyard.

Harry had the grace of a walrus, but he had the luck of youth - even if he bounced outside of the soft area, children, Sirius was quickly learning, were far more resilient and able to shake off a bad fall. _I'm going to bruised and beaten by tomorrow morning. Who knew that being on this side of 25 could be so dangerous to my health? I am not even in bad shape, for Merlin's health!_

"Like this?" Harry asked, placing his hands out in front of himself clumsily before flipping over. He landed flat on his back, hair in his eyes. _Well, that's one way to attempt a summersault..._

"I think you need to take it a bit slower, pup. Like this..." Sirius' voice trailed off as he entered into a summersault and landed in a crouching position. _Better than on my back._

"I don't want to do this anymore, Sirius! It's boring!" Exclaimed Harry, tears threatening to spill out. _Merlin's beard. Dumbledore thinks that my god-son is going to fight off Voldemort, but he can't even take an hour or so of training._ Of course, Harry didn't know _what_ he was training for... or _why_ , but Sirius had found those details to be unimportant.

"Just one more go?" Sirius prodded, hoping that he could keep telling Harry _just one more time_ and get another hour of work out of the thin boy.

"No!" Harry demanded, getting off of his back. He wiped his eyes with the back of his hand, smearing dirt on his face.

"But pup, it's important!"

Harry seemed to wage this for a minute before yelling _no_ at Sirius one more time. He then took off in a full sprint, uncoordinated as all, and ran to Remus. Luckily, Remus had set his coffee mug down on the patio table and was able to receive the young boy that flung himself at Remus.

"Pads, take a break for today."

"For forever!" yelled Harry, placing his face against Remus' chest.

Sirius looked exasperated. _How can I teach this boy anything, if Remus is going to just step in and protect him every time he wants to give up? He won't be able to say, 'hey, Voldy, let's take a break. I'm tired!' Why does Remus allow this?_

 _As if reading Sirius' mind, Remus responded, "Look, Sirius. We know that today_ is _not_ the day. We have a lifetime to make sure everything is okay. Let him be a boy." Remus ran his hand up and down Harry's back, placing his lips to the top of his head.

"Remus!" Harry said suddenly as Sirius approached the two of them.

"Yes?" Remus said wary, looking at the boy who had suddenly pulled his head from his chest.

"I'm really hurt...I need chocolate to make it better!"

Sirius and Remus exchanged a glance before bursting in to laughter. _Remus is right. He's a child. Let him be a child. Let him be loved. I need to work on meeting him where he's at - I need to make sure that I'm not pushing him too hard too fast. I want him to still have a good head on his shoulders... and to still get to enjoy the little things. I can't consume_ his _life and make it all about fighting Voldemort. Just because I want that..._

"You're in luck," murmured Remus, Sirius straining to hear. He watched as his best friend pulled a bar of chocolate from the pocket of his jeans, offering a piece to Harry. Harry appeared to be excited, and stuffed the piece that was offered into his mouth without hesitation before resting his head back on Remus' chest.

A chair appeared for Sirius to sit in next to Remus. Sirius obliged and slumped in to the chair. "I'm not mad, Sirius. I just don't like this game that we're playing." Harry's voice was soft, causing Sirius to snap his head towards the sound. Harry was peering at him, cheek pressed to Remus' chest, with his bright green eyes piercing Sirius' soul.

"I know that you don't like this game," Sirius admitted. Harry was just so... _uncoordinated_. Sirius didn't understand it, really. _Put that boy on a broomstick and it all makes sense. Ask him to walk forward ten steps.. and he's gonna trip in a hole... or over himself. He's kinda like James; he was made to be in the sky._ Sirius' thoughts took him back to memories of James Potter on his broom. He had been a natural at it. It was as if the Potter family was made to fly. Sirius had never enjoyed it, and did much better on this side of the atmosphere.

Harry bit down on his lips. _Oh, don't you give me those puppy eyes,_ begged Sirius, annoyed that he even had to think about how to say no when no was the most reasonable answer that he had. "Then can we not play it again?"

"What did we talk about?" Sirius asked, reaching over to rub the back of Harry's head. Remus lifted his coffee mug to his lips once more, but otherwise remained silent. He didn't often interfere in Sirius' relationship with Harry. Today, however, was an exception. Remus had already expressed his displeasure that Harry needed to learn these tactics. He thought that Sirius was going about all of this the wrong way. But... if it helped Padfoot sleep...

"You said that I need to learn these things because I need to make sure I can do them. I just think that they're super boring and I don't think that I'll need them. You said that they'd help me when I'm older, but you're pretty old-" Sirius' eyebrow twitched, but he remained silent. Remus pursed his lips, hiding a laugh that wanted to escape. "-and they don't seem to be helping you at all! You keep complaining that your hips are hurting or your back or it messed up your hair."

 _Well, I mean, he does have a point. He's wrong that I'm old.. but man, my hips..._ "Harry, sometimes adults make us do things because _they_ know what is best for us. We don't always have to like it or agree... but we do have to make sure that we're at least trying." Sirius' voice was neutral. He wanted to just spill out the whole story, but he also understood that Harry wouldn't be able to understand. And, Remus would probably hex him into next year if he even muttered a hint of what was going on.

"Why do I have to do it?"

Sirius' eyes locked on Remus'. They, stupidly, hadn't planned on having to even sidestep this question. Sirius had wrongfully assumed that Harry would just think that it was what _all_ kids did. _Sometimes I don't plan things out very well at all._

"Do you remember the story of your mum and dad, Harry?" Remus' voice broke the silence, causing Harry to switch what cheek was resting against Remus' chest. He peered up at Remus and nodded his head slowly. "Can you tell me it?"

"My mum and dad were a witch and a wizard. That's why I'm a wizard! But then there was a bad wizard who didn't like everyone and he didn't like my mum because her mum and dad were not witches and wizards."

"That's right... what else do you know?" Remus' voice was calm. Sirius could see why he made such a good teacher.

"Um... then he killed them, but my mom saved me.. because he didn't like her and he was bad, but my dad tried to save my mum and then mum tried to save me but she died." Harry was rambling, unsure of how to answer the question.

"Yes, and-"

"Oh! And then Padfoot found me but he didn't have time to help me because he wanted to kill the person that had told the bad wizard where I was. He was also bad, I guess. And then Sirius got put in jail even though he didn't do anything bad so I had to live with my Aunt and Uncle and then you saved me!" Harry said, placing his hand on Remus' cheek.

"Well, I... Yes, the story sounds about right," Remus said, deciding not to argue with the idea that he had saved Harry. Harry didn't need all the details of everything right now, anyway.

"So, Harry," Sirius said, causing Harry to shift his attention to his godfather. "You seem to understand that story pretty well. The dark wizard, his name was Voldemort."

"Oh! Yeah! I knew that! I forgot!" _How can you forget the name of someone who tried to kill you? Ah, to be young again..._

"So," Remus continued, picking up where Sirius left off, "He wasn't the first dark wizard ever. There was another one just before Voldemort. His name was Grindelwald. Anyway, both Grindelwald and Voldemort believe that people who are not born from witches and wizards are bad. They also don't like people like me, who get sick every month. Nor do they like trolls or giants or house elves."

"They don't seem to be very nice at all. I bet that they don't have many friends!" _Ah, the simplicity of youth!_

"They really don't," admitted Sirius with a shrug. _Death eaters aren't friends; they're cowards._

Sirius thought back to the last time he had seen Regulus at Hogwarts. Sirius had been a seventh year. Regulus was just a year behind, in Slytherin. Gryffindor had just defeated Slytherin in Quidditch, and a fight had broken out on the pitch. Sirius ran down to the pitch to assist his best friend, James, who was taking a walloping from the Slytherin chaser. Sirius came face-to-face with Regulus, and as they scuffled, Sirius saw the mark on his arm. _"You're one of them!"_ Sirius had bellowed, ducking as Regulus swung at him. Regulus had replied something stupid, an attempt at being witty. Sirius punched Regulus straight on the nose, causing his younger brother to fall flat on his back. As Sirius walked away from his brother, he had told him that he never wanted to see him again; that Regulus was not man enough to ever matter to Sirius again.

And even though Sirius had meant it at that time, he still had that sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Years later, he wondered if he had been a better brother after Regulus was sorted into Slytherin, if perhaps Regulus would have turned out "good". But, that was years ago and regrets had a way of making people hate everything; Sirius tried hard to not regret the decisions that he had made in his life. For the most part, things had turned out okay; he ended up here with Harry, after all.

After the scuffle on the Quidditch pitch, the Marauders had snuck in to the Hogs Head to drown their sorrows in firewhiskey. James, nursing a black eye; Remus, eyeing Sirius the whole night, knowing what fight he had just had with his brother. Sirius, attempting to escape the fact that he knew that his family hated the very people he loved dearly. And Peter, tagging along, as always.

"We're worried, Harry," Remus said, causing Sirius to return to the present day. Remus shot Sirius a glance. "We're worried that one day another dark wizard will try to hurt people. And we want to make sure that even if we're not here anymore... that you'll know how to protect yourself. It's what your dad would have wanted."

Harry took a deep sigh and rested his small palm on Remus' cheek. He looked very thoughtful. "I guess that's okay. But, Moony, you and Sirius are never gonna leave me. Sirius promised. So that means that you have to start training with us... just in case."

"Yes!" Sirius exclaimed, jumping from his seat. His fist was extended into the air. "Yes, Harry! You're absolutely right. We'll never leave you... even if you can't see us, we're always going to be right here." He pressed his flat palm to his heart, hoping that Harry understood.

"So maybe we take a few days off and then Remus can try to learn summersaults and flips with us?" suggested Sirius, sounding hopeful. Harry nodded, excited. Remus, on the other hand, looked as if he could kill Sirius.

Both Sirius and Harry looked at Remus expectantly. The lycanthrope sighed deeply, closing his eyes. "Okay, fine. But once school starts, this nonsense is limited to Saturdays... so I have a day to recover."

Harry hugged Remus tightly, squealing with joy. _I wish James could be here to help with this... but I guess, if he's always in our hearts, he kind of is here. He would have gotten a kick out of seeing Remus doing defensive tactics. Oh, how great this will be._

 _"_ I can't wait to start!" exclaimed Harry, nuzzling Remus' chest again. His eyes closed as Remus held him close.

 _This is my family. I will do everything in my power to protect them. They're all I have left._


	15. Fifteen

"Those glasses look nice on you," complemented Remus as they stepped out of the eyewear store that was located in a corner of Diagon Alley. Sirius had grown concerned over his god-son's constant squinting at _everything_ and finally had decided to see an eye specialist.

 _He's got bad eyes, just like James. They're just his mum's color,_ thought Sirius as he ruffled Harry's hair.

"They make me look old!" complained Harry, making a smile appear on Sirius' lips.

"They make you look like your dad," reframed Sirius, patting Harry on the shoulder. "James was around your age when he first started wearing glasses; your granddad wore them, too. They're just a Potter thing."

Harry sulked, pushing the glasses up the bridge of his nose slightly. "I guess they're okay. They're just weird."

"It takes time to get used to them," reminded Remus. They had this conversation when Harry had first tried the glasses on, frustratedly looking for a pair that complemented his green eyes. He finally had settled on a round rimmed, black pair of glasses. While they made him look slightly older than seven, they did complement his face.

 _It's almost like that was what he was missing,_ thought Sirius. He caught himself, however. _Just because he_ looks _like James, does not make him James. He's still Harry. James is dead. James is not coming back. And Harry — bloody hell, Harry is his own person, for Merlin's sake. He's hardly like James at all, just in looks. But in his heart, that's Lily._ Sirius ran a hand through his untidy hair, making a mental note to have Remus cut it later this evening. He was trying to keep his appearance neat, as if by doing so, Harry's hair would tame itself.

The sun was high over Diagon Alley - it was about lunch time. Sirius knew that _he_ was hungry, and assumed the other two in his party were. They had a few more errands to run, however, and Sirius didn't want to spend ages in Diagon Alley with Harry today. Every store they went in to and every witch and wizard who passed them on the street did double takes; Harry and Sirius were a recognizable pair. Sirius worried a lot about Harry's safety, and hadn't lifted his hand from his wand that was holstered on his waist band since their adventure started.

"Ronald! Come back!" Sirius heard a woman's voice screech as a blur of red hair toppled into Harry, knocking him over. Sirius immediately pulled his wand out and trained it on the red haired boy as Remus pulled Harry to his feet. The red head - Ronald? - pushed himself off of the ground as well.

Ron's cheeks tinged almost as red as the hair on his head. "I-I-I'm s-s-s-sorry," he stammered, looking Harry up and down, trying to place him. "I wasn't paying attenti— Merlin, _you're_ Harry Potter!"

Harry shifted uncomfortably at Ron's recognition of him. He looked nervously to Sirius, who shrugged, and then back to Remus. Sirius felt himself lowering his wand, but he did not reholster it. While he was sure that this boy was harmless, he couldn't be certain.

"I'm—" started the boy, only to be interrupted by an angry looking woman who was plump and also red-haired.

"Ronald Weasley!" Her voice had a shrieking condition to it that made Sirius wince. He decided to delicately place his wand back in its holster as he recognized the woman now — Molly? — and the last name. The Weasley family was almost as old as the Black family, however _they're not as pure; if you're into that, anyway_ , thought Sirius, remembering how his mother had blasted _that muggle loving family_ off of the tapestry at Grimmauld Place when Sirius was a child. He had never really understood it — couldn't have understood the hatred, couldn't have understood what she was doing back then. As he got older, he realized what she had meant.

Arthur Weasley, and his then young wife, Molly, had also been in the Order of the Pheonix during the first war. Arthur had been a great asset to Dumbledore as he had just newly been hired on to the Ministry of Magic; Molly often greeted them at their headquarters with a hot cooked dinner after missions. Even back then, she had multiple children on the hip. Sirius stared at this one — Ronald — and couldn't recognize him. He was sure that even after the war, Molly and Arthur probably didn't stop procreating.

"Sirius," Molly said, shock evading the tone of her voice. She looked towards the other man with him and murmured Remus' name softly. Both Remus and Sirius nodded in acknowledgement. Her eyes trailed to the raven haired, spectacled boy in between Remus and Sirius. "Oh, Merlin! Harry Potter! Oh, dear! Is he okay from the fall? Ronald has lost all of his manners today, it seems!" Molly glowered at Ron, daring him to speak. Sirius watched Ron swallow hard and remain silent.

"I'm fine!" Harry exclaimed, finally feeling that it must be safe to talk if she knew both Sirius and Remus. That was always a good sign for Harry. "Your name is Ron?" Harry tilted his head as he questioned the boy that ran in to him.

"Yeah! I'm Ron. I'm 7!"

"Me too!" Harry said excitedly, rubbing his hands together. _I guess this would be exciting for him. He doesn't get much chance to socialize with similar aged peers_ , Sirius thought, running another hand through his hair.

"Molly and her husband Arthur are my cousins," Sirius told Harry.

Harry looked up at Sirius, a mix between confused and excited. "And you knew that they had a seven year old, too, and you didn't even pretend like you wanted me to make friends!" Harry's tone was full of accusations.

"The last time Sirius saw Ron," Molly said gently, looking at Sirius briefly, "he was just a little baby. I don't think that Sirius would even have remembered it. Our families… didn't always get along. It was hard to see Sirius, even if he is related to us."

Both Ron and Harry seemed okay with this. "We do need to get going, Ronald," Molly reminded Ron as she glanced towards where Ron had run from. "Your dad can't be left alone with the others for too long."

"Sirius!" Harry exclaimed, looking like he had something important to tell Sirius. "I want to spend time with Ron! I think that I could be friends with a cousin of yours! He's already much better than Dudley!"

Sirius' heart jumped a beat in his chest; he had wished that Harry could forget about the period of time that he spent with his aunt, uncle, and cousin in the muggle world. Alas, it didn't seem to be the case. Sirius didn't have an issue with Harry getting to know the Weasley family, but he also only truly trusted Remus with Harry's care. He wasn't sure if he was willing to let Harry venture to the Weasley's house, or have the Weasley's know where he lived either. It wasn't that Sirius thought that they had turned into bad witches and wizards since he had last known them, but when it came to Harry's health and safety, nothing could triumph over erring on the side of caution.

"Perhaps we can meet for a play date sometime," Remus suggested, knowing that Sirius got anxious about the idea of Harry not being in his sight.

"Yes, somewhere… natural," Molly agreed, seeming to pick up on Sirius' apprehension.

"Sirius! I could finally have someone to play Quidditch with!" Harry exclaimed, looking at Ron excitedly. Ron's cheeks were less red, but they still held a hint of pink.

"I suppose we can set something up through owl," acknowledged Sirius.

"This will be great! I love playing Quidditch, but my brothers are rough!" Ron told Harry. Ron was tall and sturdy. He wasn't nearly as thin as Harry was, and he had several inches on top of Harry. It was hard to believe that these boys were similar ages.

"We'll be in touch," Molly agreed. "But now it is time to rescue your father from the twins," she reminded Ron as she placed a hand on Ron's shoulder. She turned him around with a soft 'goodbye' to the gentlemen. Ron peered over his shoulder at Harry, waving a sad 'goodbye' to the boy that he had knocked over.

Sirius lifted his hand towards the figures that were walking away and then shot Remus a look. "Right. Let's get on with the next errand - robes, I think it is?"

"Robes are _so_ boring!" whined Harry, stomping his foot. Sirius gave him a stern look and he stopped his tantrum before it started, although a pout still hung on his lips. _As much as he looks like James, he's Lily through and through_ , Sirius thought, remembering a simpler time when he had been tasked to "babysitting" a very pregnant Lily Potter, who threatened to hex him off of this planet no less than eight times in a four hour period. When James had returned to the home, she put on all of the dramatics and wore the largest pout for his best friend.

"Well, the sooner we get there.. the sooner it's over," Sirius reminded Harry, clasping a hand on his shoulder and steering him towards Madame Malkin's.

"Why do we even need to go?!" Demanded Harry, his pout not ceasing.

"I need some new robes for teaching this year," Remus said gently. Harry's pout erased completely. When he was with Sirius - or dealing with Sirius - Harry kicked up the antics. Sirius suspected this was because he felt safest with Sirius. When Remus asked for something, however, Harry tended to be more compliant than other children of his age. Sirius suspected that _this_ behavior stemmed from not wanting to disappoint Remus, much like Harry hadn't wanted to disappoint his aunt and uncle.

Stepping in to the robe store, Sirius scanned the room. His hand fell off of Harry's shoulder as Harry wandered with Remus. Sirius picked up the _Rumours!_ magazine that was sitting on the table by the entrance. The cover page headline screamed _**Sale! 35% off school robes through August!**_ Sirius lazily flipped through the magazine, remembering how much he had loved having his Gryffindor robes. _Too bad there's no reason to get robes like that anymore_ , he thought sullenly.

"Move out of the way!" The voice was unmistakably belonging to a young child, but it held such authority that it caused Sirius' head to snap up. His eyes scanned the room, realizing that it belong to the aisle that Harry and Remus had wandered down. Sirius, once again, drew his wand and headed to help his friend and god-son.

"That's not very nice!" Sirius heard Harry's voice before he spotted the raven colored hair that belonged to Harry. "We were just looking, too!" Sirius' eyes scanned past Harry and landed on a very pale, blonde young boy - probably Harry's age - flanked by Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Black- no, Malfoy.

"Merlin's beard," Sirius muttered under his breath. His wand was still drawn as he pushed past Moony, arms full of robes and eyes as wide as the full moon. "Malfoy," he said curtly, stepping in front of Harry. "Is there a problem?"

"Black," Narcissa hissed, her eyes narrowing like a snake. _Typical Narcissa,_ he thought.

"Was that your obnoxiously self-entitled boy telling my god-son to move for no good reason?" Sirius challenged, his eyes flickering between Lucius and Narcissa before landing on their son. _What's his bloody name? Actually, who cares? Malfoy will do._

"You watch your mouth, Black, before you end up back in Azkaban for life! I'm sure that there's some demeanors who would like to give you the best kiss of your life," sneered the man with flowing blond hair.

Sirius glanced back at Remus, who nodded at the unspoken request. Remus grabbed Harry's shoulder and steered him away from the known death eater family and towards the cash register. Remus was going to let Sirius attempt to settle this healthily while he paid for the things that he absolutely needed. There was no reason to get everyone involved if it wasn't going to turn in to a big thing. _It's better to have Harry away; he doesn't need to know that I come from a family this stupid._

The young boy opened his mouth to say something, but Lucius immediately rapped him on the top of the head with the snake headed cane he was holding. _How very typical_ , Sirius thought. "I would advise you," Sirius hissed at Lucius, his wand sparking angry in Narcissa's direction, "to stay in your lane. Your... spawn will stay away from my ward. Is that clear?" His eyes were wildly darting between Narcissa and Lucius, daring them to disagree. _I've been to Azkaban before; there's nothing there to scare me anymore._

Lucius pursed his lips, annoyed that a store clerk was making her presence known at the end of the aisle. "That'll be no problem. We have no room in our lives for those who love mud bloods."

"The world would be better off without people like you," Sirius sneered. "I hope that you have a wonderful, muggle filled day." He nodded his head towards his cousin - _how can I be cousins with someone as daft as her? but, I guess that makes sense when you look at the rest of the lot_ \- before turning on his heel swiftly and exiting the store after Harry and Remus who had finished paying a moment ago.

Sirius caught up to Remus and Harry several stores away. Remus was kneeling down in front of Harry who had tears spilling down his cheeks. "What's wrong, pup?" Sirius' voice was alarmed and he wrapped his arms around his god-son.

"I don't know why that boy didn't want to be my friend! I met Ron and Ron wants to be friends! But that boy was just _mean_! I think he was meaner than Dudley." Harry pressed his face against Sirius who hugged him tighter. Remus shook his head; Sirius could see that Remus was visibly frustrated with the intrusion that the Malfoy's had paid towards their otherwise fun filled day.

"I don't know, Harry. Sometimes the world doesn't make sense. The Malfoy family isn't a particularly nice family. Maybe they haven't taught that young boy to be nice to strangers."

"I think," Harry said with a hiccup. He pulled his face from Sirius' cheek and looked at Sirius in the eyes, "that's the saddest thing that could ever happen to a person! if you're nice to people, you can make friends! And if you make friends, then that's the best thing ever! I wish I had friends. But sometimes when we lived at the beach, I could make friends for a day and make sandcastles!"

"That is true, Harry," Sirius agreed.

Remus reached out and ruffled Harry's hair gently. "You're a good boy, Harry. There's no way that anyone with a brain could not love you."

"So, what says you? Dry those tears and then get some ice cream?"

Harry stared at Sirius for a second before looking at Remus puzzled. "Sirius, we're supposed to get _lunch_." Remus' voice held a note of sternness, but otherwise seemed harmless.

Picking Harry up as he stood, Sirius shrugged. "And who is to say we can't break a rule every now and then, Moons? After all, I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good!"

Remus shook his head with a chuckle. "Off to Fortescue's I guess then."

"Yay! Ice cream!" exclaimed the seven year old, clapping his hands together.

 _It's as if there was never anything wrong in his world to begin with. What a brilliant, happy boy,_ thought Sirius as he and Remus started towards the ice cream shop. Sirius planted a kiss on Harry's cheek, thanking Merlin silently for the opportunity to love this boy.


	16. Sixteen

Harry was running across an open field, shrouded by woods, with a broom in his hand. Taking his eyes off of the young, raven haired boy, Sirius raised his wand to the sky and finished applying the charms that would turn muggles away. If they happened to be on a hike in these woods, they would suddenly remember that they had left their oven on..., and they would immediately wander in a different direction. Sirius did not want to take any chances with this little game of Quidditch that he had set up with Ronald Weasley and Harry. Harry hadn't been able to stop talking about it for weeks.

Sirius reholstered his wand, frowning at the thought that Remus would be missing out on this fun. He had been mysteriously elusive since the full moon last week. He claimed that today he had to grade some student papers, but when he stopped by the house to wish Harry well with making a new friend, he had smelled of nice cologne and he had nice clothing on. _I bet that jerk is on a date,_ Sirius thought to himself, his eyes rolling. _How is it that he's able to bag all of these ladies, but then I... Oh, wait. Harry. He doesn't really have a child. Maybe I should enlist him to babysit._

Sirius' thoughts were immediately pulled back to the present, however, as the wall of protective charms he had shot shimmered. He pulled his wand out just in case, but quickly relaxed as he saw that it was Arthur Weasley and his small boy walking towards them. Ron bolted towards Harry, a ratty broom in his hand. _It'll do_ , Sirius thought, feeling guilty at the sight of Harry's brand new broom that he was proudly showing Ron.

Arthur made his way to Sirius and reached out his hand to shake. Sirius accepted the warm embrace and nodded at Ron. "He seems to be very excited." Small talk had never been Sirius' strong point, but he was going to make an attempt. _Maybe it's not how we're raising Harry... maybe he doesn't have friends because his god-father doesn't like people,_ Sirius thought glumly as he put the wand back in the holster that was on his hip and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I'd reckon they both are," Arthur agreed, pointing at Harry. Sirius smiled as he watched Harry offer the other boy his new broomstick to try out.

Sirius nodded his head. "That's the bloody truth," he agreed. "Harry wouldn't shut his mouth about this until I had owl'd you all, asking when would be good. And then, even though we had a date set... it wasn't soon enough for him." Sirius shook his head, laughing at the memory of Harry pouting.

"Exactly the same with Ron. Do you work now?" Arthur was attempting to make small talk, and Sirius wasn't sure how to feel about it. He didn't dislike Arthur, but he didn't know him that well. Of course, he had spent several years in Azkaban while Arthur had been working hard on providing for his family.

Sirius' eyes watched the boys with hawk like intent, but he took the bait to talk. _It doesn't hurt to have a normal conversation with someone that isn't Moony,_ he reminded himself. "I don't. I've thought about returning to being an Auror when Harry starts schooling, but I don't know yet. Harry and I are still getting to know each other, still learning each other. I don't want him to feel abandoned by my work. He took it hard when Remus started working at Hogwarts, and he's _always_ at our house. I think Harry would go mental if I left. Are you still at the Ministry?"

"It would be hard for Harry; he seems very attached to you," Arthur agreed as he waved to the two boys who waved at him. Harry was hovering above the ground on his broom stick, waiting for Ron to mount his. Ron was carefully holding a quaffle in his arms, a large grin on his face. Sirius registered the conversation, as Arthur dove deep into a description about his job at the Ministry. He worked in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Department, and based on the conversation, he loved it.

"So, what does... that object do?" Sirius asked, as Arthur spoke about some object that he had found recently. The boys were focused on tossing the Quaffle back and forth; they were both about fifteen feet off of the ground. The boys were stationary as they learned to balance the toss, catch, and being on a broom. _This is good for Harry_.

"The toaster? Oh, it's brilliant," Arthur exclaimed, excitedly. He hurriedly moved in to telling Sirius _all_ about toasters, hand gestures and all.

In all honesty, Sirius hadn't been too sure about muggle items. He had never heard most muggle terms prior to attending Hogwarts, when he was really able to blossom into the person that he was. When he was a third year, he took Muggle Studies. He ended up dropping out of it during his sixth year - who had time to worry about muggles, when there was a war ongoing? Lily had taught him a few things here and there, but for the most part.. muggles underwhelmed Sirius.

Sirius wasn't one of the pureblood wizards who thought that muggles didn't have a place on Earth; quite the contrary! Sirius just happened to be one of _those_ wizards who didn't understand how muggles could live without magic. Of course, they didn't know that they were making everything harder than they needed to, but Sirius was very well aware of it. Magic was... a safety net for Sirius.

"Oy-" Sirius yelled, interrupting Arthur's description of different toaster settings. Harry was diving rapidly after the Quaffle that Ron had purposefully tossed away from him. Harry caught the Quaffle and pulled up on his broom quickly, narrowly missing the ground. He turned his head to look at his god father, a sheepish grin on his face. He already knew he was in trouble.

Shaking his head, Sirius called over, "You knock that out or I'll lock your broom up until you go to Hogwarts!" He heard a faint apology yelled across the field before Harry egged Ron on- a chase ensued. Sirius felt okay with _that_ action when compared to Harry diving towards the Earth at rapid speeds. He needed to learn to control the broom in it's totality before performing stunts that could kill him.

"I like muggle cars," Sirius said offhandedly, causing Arthur to clap his hands together. "During the war..., James and I... James and I magic'd a motorbike I had bought when I was 15. We made it be able to fly. It was our favorite thing before..." Sirius' voice trailed off and he shrugged. He shook the image of he and James on the motorbike, trying to make it home by James' curfew set by Lily.

"It must have been hard," Arthur said softly, catching Sirius off guard. "To lose his parents and him in the same day - and your freedom."

"Yes, well... this way was probably for the best. Otherwise, it would have just been a stupid mistake to make the wrong person the secret keeper. At least James and Lily were avenged with the fact that Pettigrew received a very special kiss." Sirius sounded bitter, and he was. He shouldn't have pushed for them to have Peter be their secret keeper; what a moronic move that had been! But, Sirius felt good knowing that Wormtail had received a fate worse than death for his actions towards Lily, James, and the numerous people that he had slaughtered on that bridge.

 _That's the one silver lining,_ thought Sirius, rubbing his chin. Arthur was silent. _Gee, I know how to kill a conversation. I'm just so bloody cheerful. It's a wonder they don't teach you social skills courses at Azkaban._

"The boys seem to be getting on well," said Sirius weakly, unsure if Arthur wanted to even continue to talk.

Arthur, however, nodded and smiled. "They do! They really do! We should make sure that they get to spend a lot of time together. It's good for them."

"Especially for Harry," Sirius agreed. "I often wonder if we're doing more damage since he only ever really gets to interact with Remus and I."

"He seems to be a well rounded boy. I think that you're doing a great job with him."

"Thank you. Maybe we can make this happen a few times a month. Ron is welcome at our house; I'm sure that Molly wouldn't mind having one of the kids taken off of her hands."

"I'll let her know!" Arthur said excitedly. _Well, that makes sense. Happy wife, happy life and all,_ thought Sirius. It was a win-win situation. Molly got rid of one of her kids who didn't seem to be too much of a handful, and Harry got the benefit of having a friend his age around. Harry didn't talk much about it, but Sirius did not get the impression that he had a ton of muggle friends at the muggle school that he went to.

Arthur reached into his pocket and pulled out a pocket watch. He shook his head, looking at the time. "By Merlin's beard, we've been here for two hours already!" He secured the pocket watch in his pocket before shaking his head. _Time really did move quickly,_ thought Sirius. _It must have been all of that talk about toasters. Fascinating._

"Ron!" Arthur called, his voice carrying over the field. Ron's head snapped towards his father, a glum look on his face. _He already knows what's coming!_ Harry was holding the Quaffle, and the boys seemed to be discussing something as they hovered near each other about twenty feet off of the field. Ron began to come back to Earth, but Harry sat on his broom annoyed. Apparently, Harry thought he didn't have to go when Ron left.

 _I guess we can stay a bit longer and toss the Quaffle around. It wouldn't hurt anything,_ thought Sirius, running a hand through his hair. It had been cut recently, which helped make it more manageable. Sirius enjoyed having shorter hair, but when he had been at Hogwarts, he had only ever worn it long. _If only to make mother regret giving birth to me._

"We'll be seeing you soon," Arthur promised Sirius, clapping a hand on Ron's shoulder. Ron was carrying the broom with a sullen look on his face.

"Yes, thank you Mr. Black," Ron stated in a soft voice. His eyes met Sirius' eyes, and a true smile lit his lips. "Thank you for letting me play with Harry. I would like to do it again if that's okay with you."

"I think that's more than okay, Ron. I think you and Harry will become good friends," Sirius acknowledged, ruffling Ron's bright red hair gently.

Ron grinned brightly at Sirius, excited to see that it was an option. Sirius glanced up at Harry, still hovering with an expectant look on his face. _Alright! Alright! Chill out, Potter,_ thought Sirius as both Ron and his father said their goodbyes. They waved over to Harry who returned the gesture before Ron and Arthur headed for the tree line so that Arthur could apparate outside of the protection charm that Sirius had placed.

After watching Arthur and Ron disappear past the charm, Sirius started towards Harry. Harry was tossing the Quaffle up into the air and then catching it again. Sirius had a smile on his face. _He looks just like James when he does that. I know that he prefers the snitch - and he's damn good at it - but this is just too cool to see. Prongs, you'd be so proud of him. I'm so proud of him._ A pang of guilt ran through Sirius' mind. _Prongs, I wish it was you raising him. I would have given my life, rather than let you die. But... if that's how this had to end... I'm glad that I can make this happen._

Sirius couldn't change the mistakes that he had made; he couldn't change the fact that Peter Pettigrew was a horrible rat and an even worse friend. Sirius couldn't accept that he was part of the reason - maybe the biggest reason - that James and Lily got killed. What Sirius _could_ accept, however, was the fact that Harry was part of his life forever. "I'll always love you, pup," said Sirius almost inaudibly as he finally got near where Harry was flying.

It all happened in the flash of a second. In one moment, Sirius was watching Harry catch the Quaffle... and the next second, Harry had thrown the Quaffle up into the air again, and reached for it as it fell by. Harry stretched too far, and lost his balance off of the broom. Harry started to plunge towards the Earth as Sirius grabbed for his wand.

Sirius was able to slow Harry's fall - it was twenty odd feet - in just the nick of time. Unfortunately, Harry's arm was pinned underneath Harry's slight frame when he crumpled onto the ground. An audible crack was heard. _Fuck!_ Sirius thought as he raced towards his godson that was laying just thirty feet away from him.

Sirius immediately scooped the sobbing Potter up into his arms. He used his wand to cast a Patronus to find Remus and ask him to come to St. Mungo's; he stated that it was an emergency. Sirius felt a pang of guilt and protection as he looked at the young Potter, cradled in his arms. Harry's arm was bent at an unnatural angle. Sirius waved his wand, watching the protection charms above them disappear and then apparated quickly to the wizarding hospital.

 _It's never a dull moment,_ thought Sirius dryly as he marched into the Emergency area of the hospital, _when you live with the Boy Who Lived._


	17. Seventeen

The wait at St. Mungo's was excruciating for Sirius. Thankfully for him, Remus arrived just half an hour later. Remus entered the area where Sirius was waiting, clutching a teddy bear and his clothes slightly disheveled. The teddy bear was grey with glasses and a Gryffindor colored scarf. Sirius absently wondered if Remus had bought the bear like that, or if he had charmed it after buying it.

"I'm sorry that it took so long. How is he?" Remus asked, embracing the distraught Sirius Black in his arms.

Sirius' face was pale and full of worry. "He's with the medi-witch. They said that his arm was broken and that he had a slight concussion, but he wouldn't stop screaming so they pushed me out here so they could give him sleeping potion and something to fix his arm." The word escaped Sirius.

"Skele-grow," reminded Remus, taking the seat next to Sirius.

"I feel so stupid. It all happened so fast."

Remus glanced at Sirius, shaking his head. "You couldn't have stopped it. Thank you for sending the patronus to let me know." Remus' voice was soft. Sirius could tell just from the tone that he genuinely was thankful that Sirius had alerted him.

"Of course. I know that you care for him… and I didn't want to be alone," admitted Sirius. "This is scary. This is like when James and Lily were murdered, and I thought I was strong enough to deal with it alone. The way his body looked crumpled up… Oh, Rem. I could only imagine the worst."

Sirius ran a hand through his hair. He was shaking his head "no", thinking about all of the possibilities that could have happened. He was thankful - and lucky - that these were the worst of Harry's injuries. An accident like that could have been much more disastrous. _This is exactly why I hate brooms. Prongs, if you were here, you'd understand!_

"I bet," Remus agreed, nodding his head at Sirius' concerns. "But he's going to be okay. That much is clear."

"Thanks for bringing the… teddy bear," Sirius said, eyeing the thing again. It was perfect for Harry. He would love it. Harry had a certain fondness of all of his _cuddles_ , which is what he called the stuffed toys that he had. Sirius believed — although Harry had never confirmed it — that he loved them so much because his cousin had been so spoiled with all of the toys that he could imagine, and Harry had never been. Harry also was just, in general, a very touchy boy and having something to cuddle up with, Sirius imagined, would be his favorite.

Harry didn't speak much of the things that his aunt, uncle, and cousin had done to him when he had been in their care. Sirius supposed that, in some ways, it didn't matter. He didn't want to pry — and he believed fully that one day Harry would want to tell him on his own, which is why Sirius didn't push the issue. The things that he _did_ know about Harry's family infuriated him so much and made a Slytherin like anger rage. For Harry's sake, however, he couldn't act on it. He had to be stable, loving, and able to provide everything for Harry.

"Of course, Sirius. I might not be much use in a crisis like this, but I want Harry to know that he has two adults that love him so very much. I suspect that he didn't get a lot of that before you got him."

Sirius nodded. A sly smile crept to his lips as he once-over'd Remus' attire once more. "So, uh, what were you doing when my patronus found you?"

"Grading papers," Remus confirmed, his cheeks turning an unusual bright red. That was Remus' tell.

"Yeah? Anything good? Were the papers on how best to perform a muggle cavity search?"

"Sirius!" Remus hissed as his best friend doubled over in laughter. "I'm glad that _you_ think that _you're_ funny!" Remus' eyes were cold; he wasn't amused by his friends behavior.

"I'm just impressed. Remus Lupin," Sirius murmured, dropping his voice so only Remus could hear, "lycanthrope!" Remus shot Sirius a warning glance that he promptly ignored before he continued in a normal tone of voice: "And bagger of the ladies!"

"It wasn't like that!" Remus' voice sounded weak in protest, as if he didn't feel that he had a defense for his behavior.

Sirius shrugged, slouching in his chair. He folded his arms over his chest and looked at Remus innocently. "I'm not saying it's a bad thing. Merlin, I'm right jealous. It's been… a long time since I did. I just am impressed that booky, nerdy, _quiet_ Remus stepped out of his shell!"

"Well, don't be," he snapped, signifying that he was done with this conversation. Sirius put his hand up in a truce. "And, you've been told that if it's so important, you can leave Harry with me for a night or two and do whatever it is that you feel that you need to do."

"I wish it were that easy. With my face plastered every where so often… I feel like I can't just go ask someone out on a proper date. I know that it's calmed down as of late… but…" Sirius shrugged, not feeling comfortable with the idea.

Remus nodded. "It's not as if you need to talk to _me_ about how it feels to be overwhelmed by dating someone."

"I know," Sirius said softly, a frown forming. _It would be nice to catch some tail,_ he thought. He was just your average 27 year old, human male. _James would be disappointed in my_ lack _of tail since his death. I know I had limited opportunities, but I'm sure Prongs thought that this was going to turn out differently._

"Mr. Black?" A small voice questioned, causing Sirius' head to snap up towards the double doors that lead to the exam rooms.

Sirius stood, quickly followed by Remus. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Remus struggled to quickly smooth out his outfit. Sirius did a one over with his eyes of the medi-witch who had entered the room. She had pale skin, beautiful, large brown eyes, and brown hair to match. She was petite, and Sirius couldn't imagine that she was older than 22. The name badge on her uniform stated "Armor". Speaking of her uniform— it beautifully hugged the curves of her body...

 _Stop, Sirius. You're only thinking about her in such a way because of the conversation you_ just _finished with Moony. She's not your type; she's too young._

Sirius snapped his eyes back to her brown eyes. They were kind. "Yes, that's me. This is Mr. Lupin. He's… my roommate." _Fuck! Why did I say that? It makes us sound like_ we're _dating! Merlin, Black!_ Sirius thought, mentally beating himself up.

The witches eyes curiously shifted between Sirius and Remus before settling on Sirius. "I see," she said after a pregnant pause.

"Uh," Sirius blurted out, red faced, "so how is Harry?"

"He's fine! He's just been woken up by the head Medi-Witch and he'll be cleared to go soon," the medi-witch informed Sirius, stepping towards the two men. She pulled out a scroll of paper from her uniform pocket. "I was just asked to go through the discharge information with you."

Sirius attempted to listen to the discharge information — look for any adverse reactions to either potion, although Sirius couldn't recall what adverse reactions might look like — as he stood next to the witch. _She smells like pinecones and a warm holiday fire,_ he thought to himself as he tried to concentrate on what she was saying. Sirius was thankful that Remus was here; he had always been the better one at healing and concealing, anyway. When it came to any after-care instructions for Harry, Remus would likely be the one who was in charge.

"...Harry will be out in just a minute," finished the witch, her brown eyes emulating her happiness.

"Thank you," murmured Sirius and Remus in unison. Just then, the doors behind the witch pushed open and out walked another medi-witch, holding Harry by the hand.

"Padfoot!" he cried, letting go of the witches hand and running straight into Sirius' outstretched arms. Sirius picked up his god-son and kissed his forehead.

"You gave me a scare, Harry," he whispered, gingerly holding the boy. _I don't want to break him,_ Sirius thought, rubbing Harry's back.

"I'm sorry! Moony!" Harry said, turning his head to Remus. Remus smiled and also kissed Harry's forehead before handing Harry the stuffed animal. "Thank you! He's such a cool bear! I'm going to name him Grey-Bear!" _How original,_ thought Sirius with a smirk. Harry cuddled his new friend close, wrapping one arm tightly around Sirius' neck.

"Thank you," Remus said to both of the medi-witches who were standing in front of the men, smiles plastered on to their faces. Remus took Sirius by the upper arm and steered him out of the emergency wing and down the hall towards the entrance of the hospital.

As they rounded the corner, a door to another wing opened and out strolled someone knew in a past life, also walking with a small statured boy who had a sullen look on his face. "Mrs. Longbottom," Sirius greeted. The woman, to be honest, scared Sirius; he remembered once that he and James were invited over to Frank's house for a summer get together. They had managed to explode some muggle fireworks that James had picked up, and all three boys got their hides beat in the aftermath. Mrs. Longbottom had long been a stern reminder of the stern family Sirius had come from, but she had loved her son very much.

Frank Longbottom had married another Gryffindor of their year; Alice Longbottom. Just the day before Harry had been born, she had given birth to a healthy, beautiful little boy. His name was Neville - _perhaps that's him, with Mrs. Longbottom?_ wondered Sirius. They had also gone in to hiding. As Sirius understood it, after the fall of Voldemort, when it was safe for them to come out of hiding, Sirius' lovely cousin - along with Barty Crouch, Jr - had seen fit to attack Mr and Mrs Longbottom, just in case they had any information that would have proven useful to Death Eaters who were still at large.

 _Frank had been a damn good Auror,_ Sirius reminded himself. _In some ways, Prongs, you made it out with a better fate than Frank if the rumors I heard are to be believed. He's insane; locked in his own head. At least, wherever you are, I hope that you're free._ Sirius felt a pang at his heart; Frank and Alice had been great assets to the Order, and their presence had been instrumental in keeping ground for as long as the Order had.

"Sirius Black," responded Augusta Longbottom, a hint of surprise in her voice. "What are you doing here?" The sullen boy kicked at the floor, appearing even more distressed that his grandmother would stop to talk to someone. Sirius set Harry down gently, prompting the boy to interact with the other boy.

"Harry had a bit of an accident, but he'll be okay. Were you... visiting... I heard - I'm sorry. Bellatrix deserves nothing less than the kiss," Sirius fumbled, his cheeks turning red. _Merlin, how do you apologize for things that your family has done? She completely destroyed this family, but how do I reconcile that? I don't want to have to atone for the reputation of my family for the rest of my life._

Augusta nodded, seeming to understand what Sirius was fumbling with. "I agree about your cousin. You don't need to worry; I don't hold it against you. Frank always thought so highly of you. I was happy to see that you weren't involved with all of that nonsense that you were accused of. And, I'm glad to see that Harry gets to live with you; that had always been James and Lily's wish. Neville, say hello to Mr. Baclk and Mr. Lupin." Her tone sounded scolding, and she scowled even more when Neville merely mumbled his greeting.

"His personality - he's so shy. Not like his parents," she complained to Sirius and Remus.

"Harry was like that, too, when we picked him up. He's come around," promised Remus.

"I'm Harry," Sirius heard his god-son say to Neville, causing Neville's head to jerk up.

"I'm Neville." The voice was so small and quiet, Sirius could only be half-sure that's what Neville said. All three adults stopped talking and turned their attention to the two young boys.

"You seem sad," Harry said. It was half a question, half a statement. _Well, you're about as observant as your father..._

Neville shrugged in reply. He seemed to get excited, however, as he remembered something. He pulled out a piece of paper that was folded into that of a swan from his back pocket. "My mom gave me this!"

Harry smiled before looking back at Sirius. He looked unsure and slightly nervous. He had met the fairly confident Ron Weasley, but he wasn't sure what to do about people who lacked confidence. Sirius shrugged and then nodded. Harry turned his attention back to Neville, who was running his finger along the edges of the bird. "This is Grey-Bear. Remus gave him to me. I broke my arm. But, I have a lot of cuddles. I think that maybe he'd like to live with you?"

Neville looked at Harry doubtfully. "Really?" He glanced up at his grandmother; her stern expression didn't change. Remus nodded his head that it was 'okay' for this exchange to happen.

"Yeah, really. I have a lot of cuddles. It was nice of Remus to buy this for me, but maybe he could have a good home with you? I met a boy and got to play with him. His name is Ron. I was wondering if maybe sometime you'd like to play with us too?" _Oh, there's the Potter in him; just making plans without asking any of us!_

Neville nodded at the question, and then accepted the teddy bear into his arms. He placed a kiss on the top of its head before reaching for his grandmother. His cheeks were tinged red. "It was nice to meet you, but we're going to be late for tea," he said softly. Sirius had the impression that Mrs. Longbottom kept Neville on a tight schedule; she had done so with Frank, too.

"It was nice to meet you, Neville. I'll be sending your grandmother and owl about a time when we can all get together," promised Sirius, reaching for Harry's hand. Harry accepted his god-fathers hand as he waved goodbye. The parties set off down two different directions.

"Harry," Remus remarked, "That was awful nice of you to give away the bear."

Harry shrugged, not worried that Remus might be mad. "I think that he seemed sad, but I don't know why. But I know that when I have my cuddles... they make me feel better. And I have you and Sirius to help me feel better. He seemed lonely. I just wanted to make him happy."

Sirius and Remus stole a glance at each other. _I guess we are doing a pretty okay job with this raising a kid thing. Besides, that's a total Lily thing to do. Befriend the kid who doesn't have friends. Let's just hope that Neville's trajectory is better than that of_ _Snape's._

"You never cease to amaze me, Harry James Potter. What do you say that the three of us go home?" Sirius asked proudly as they reached the hospital entrance.


	18. Eighteen

"You look dashing," Sirius said kindly, peering at his godson who had appeared from his room. Harry was wearing a new pair of pants - a surprise from Remus - and a button up shirt that had dinosaurs on it. Harry had paired it was a bowtie that had moving dragons on it. _I mean, I wouldn't wear it... but he looks stupidly like James right now._

"Thanks! Can we go yet?!"

"Oh, you think something special is going on?" Sirius asked, his lips twitching at his godson. It was Harry's birthday. _Eight? Eight. How is time flying this quickly? It needs to stop. He won't be this little forever..._

Harry had done so much growing up in the past several months, it had warmed Sirius' heart to see. He had regular play dates with Neville and Ron- sometimes together and sometimes apart. He had been able to identify what he liked and didn't like about the two boys ("Neville is fun, but he is so shy!" and "Ron is a good friend, but he is sometimes lazy if he doesn't like to do things I do!"). Harry had physically grown a few more inches, although he was still shorter than Ron and Neville. He was still thin, but he looked healthy.

Harry had also started informal studies with Sirius. _He's going to do great at magic, especially once we get him a wand. He's going to be as powerful as James, but with Lily's intelligence,_ Sirius couldn't help but think. The informal lessons had come from a night where Sirius had made Harry angry; he had requested that the boy go to bed earlier than normal, due to the fact that Harry had been throwing a tantrum. Harry had released uncontrolled magic towards Sirius, knocking the man off of his feet and causing pictures to fall off of the wall.

Up until that incident with the underage magic, Sirius hadn't noticed much of it at all. Remus had been the one to suggest teaching an informal magic education that went beyond the self-defense things that Sirius had been teaching Harry... and it took being thrown on his ass to get him to agree. He was glad he had, however; now when Harry got angry, he didn't need to worry that something was going to be broken. At least with magic.

"It's my birthday, Sirius!" whined Harry, stomping his foot impatiently.

"Sure, it is, pup. What do you want me to do about it?"

"Padfoooooooot!" whined Harry, throwing himself at Sirius, his head hitting Sirius' belly button.

Sirius started laughing, rubbing the back of Harry's head. "It's going to be okay. They can't start the party without you," reminded Sirius. He reached down and picked Harry up, groaning as he did so. _I'm either getting old, or he's getting big. This might be the last year that I'm able to carry him around. He's not the little baby that I knew, or the malnourished boy that I met._

Harry nuzzled his head against Sirius' neck. He seemed to pick up on the fact that there wouldn't be many more opportunities to be held this way. Harry had, emotionally, come a long way from when Sirius had retrieved him from the Dursley's care. Sometimes, Harry even spoke about his life _before_ Sirius, although it didn't happen often and it was still often a fairly guarded thing.

"I love you," said a small voice, forehead pressed to Sirius' neck.

"I love you too. I can't believe that you're eight already. It's like time is flying by and by," Sirius admitted, turning his head to kiss Harry's head. "You've brought me so much happiness in my life. Happiness that wouldn't have been possible without you."

"Same," Harry said softly. "Now," Harry's voice sounded more demanding, "can we go?!"

Sirius let out a hearty chuckle before reaching for the floo called the location that he wanted - _The Burrow!_ \- and was instantly transported into the kitchen at the Burrow. He held Harry steady as they stepped out of the fireplace before placing Harry back onto his own feet. _My back is killing me. He's getting to be too big for this,_ Sirius lamented in his mind. They had been in the kitchen for about fifteen seconds before a shriek of joy broke out.

"Harry! You've made it!" _Molly_ , Sirius thought. In a flash of red hair and warmth, Harry was embraced into a long hug that caused him to have to readjust his glasses when he was released from the hug. "Sirius, nice to see you as always," greeted Molly to Sirius, seeming to only just notice him.

"Off you go," she told Harry, directing Harry towards the sitting room where the Twins, Ron, Ginny, Percy, and Charlie all sat playing a game of Exploding Snap. A small brown haired boy sat next to Charlie, although he wasn't playing in the game. _Neville,_ thought Sirius, a smile on his face. _That must mean that Mrs Long-_

"Sirius Black, nice to see you again."

Sirius turned to face back towards the kitchen, his eyes peeling from his godson, who was currently nestling next to Neville to watch the rest of the game. "Augusta," Sirius said with a nod, "Thank you for bringing Neville to the birthday party."

Augusta's lips were pressed in to a thin smile. "Naturally. Neville couldn't stop talking about how excited he was to come see Harry on his birthday."

"And his birthday was yesterday; how was that?"

Augusta's smile vanished, and her lips seemed to be pursed. "He had requested that we spend his birthday with Frank and Alice." She shook her head, seeming to disapprove with the idea. "Naturally, they didn't recognize him or the meaning of the day. When we got home, he had a melt down and didn't want anything to do with the presents or cake. Today he woke up as if yesterday hadn't happened, and... all he could focus on was Harry's birthday."

Sirius nodded his head, uncertain of what to say. Whenever the topic of Frank and Alice came up, he typically shut up. _It's awkward to think about them. It hurts. In some ways, their fate was far worse than Lily and James. At least Lily and James got to die with dignity, and they're probably watching over Harry from wherever they are. Frank and Alice... they're stuck in their own minds. That's got to be as bad as a dementor's kiss. It's got to be a fate worse than death,_ Sirius mused, his cheeks tinged pink.

"I'm.."

"No need to say sorry, Sirius. Frank and Alice knew what they were doing when they joined the Order; they knew that their lives might never be safe as long as the Ministry wasn't rounding up every last Death Eater. They knew that they were taking a risk in coming out of hiding. Frank - foolish boy, at times - thought that if someone dared attack, he would be ready. Unfortunately, we know the truth. But he - and Alice - fought valiantly. At least I've got Neville; I just wish he were more like Frank."

Sirius was quiet, nodding his head. _It could have easily been any of us. It wasn't because of anything special. Bellatrix and Barty are just special people who deserve nothing less than the kiss._ "Neville has been a good influence on Harry."

"And likewise. Look," Augusta said, pointing a long, wrinkled finger towards Neville and Harry. The two boys had their heads together, creating a strategy for the game that they were just dealt into. Harry seemed to be giving the wide eyed boy some tips and pointers; in turn, Neville bit his lip and nodded his head affirmatively. "A year ago, Neville would have never agreed to be a part of a big game like that. _Harry_ has done this for him. I thank you for that."

Before Sirius could respond, the floo lit up again. Out stepped Remus Lupin, bearing several gifts in his hands. Before Sirius could speak, however, Remus stepped out of the way, allowing Albus Dumbledore, carrying two presents, to exit from the floo.

"Moony!" exclaimed Harry, throwing all of his cards on to the playing table - causing a small banging noise as the cards on the table all exploded at once - and rushing to Remus. It had been about two weeks since Harry had seen Remus, and he had lamented every day how his missed his Uncle more and more. Harry flung himself against Remus, face planted into Remus' stomach. Remus stumbled for a second, dropping a few of the gifts, before clasping his arms around Harry's shoulders.

"Happy birthday, Harry," Remus said softly, taking a knee as he hugged Harry properly. "I've missed you. How have you been?"

Sirius glanced over Remus; he seemed to be thinner than typical. His face was crisscrossed with freshly healing scars. _There hasn't been a full moon since we last saw him, and he didn't look this worn out then, either,_ Sirius thought with a frown. Dumbledore had been making slow progress on locating the Horcruxes that appeared to exist, and Remus was spending his summer helping Dumbledore look up information on them. _It's possible that he went on a mission for them... but I thought he would tell me..._

"I've missed you," admitted Harry, letting go of his 'Uncle' Moony. "Hi Professor Dumbledore. Thank you for coming to this party," Harry added, his voice sounding shy. _Ahhh, at least he isn't immune to that overwhelming feeling of being nervous around Dumbledore! That took me ages to get rid of._

"It was my pleasure, Harry," Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his blue eyes. "You look very handsome today. You look as dashing as your father did, most days, I must say. But your eyes -"

"I know, they're my mums eyes," Harry finished, rolling his green eyes back. _He's got a serious attitude. Definitely no question about who fathered him_ , Sirius thought, holding back a chuckle.

"Yes, that, and you have got her sense of style. James, I daresay, would have had to have his mom to pick out an outfit as dashing as that. Unless Sirius helped you?"

"No way! Sirius doesn't dress cool!" Harry complained. Sirius felt his own eyes roll as he shook his head.

"There's nothing wrong with jeans and a plain t-shirt, Harry," Sirius scolded as Remus burst into audible laughter.

Around five o'clock, the present Weasley Clan, Augusta, Neville, Harry, Remus, Sirius, and Albus all sat down for a meal that Molly had graciously made in celebration of the Boy Who Lived's birthday. There was an enormous amount of food present to be able to feed everyone. Even with magic, Sirius knew that it had likely been a financial stress - and a burden on Molly to prepare all of this. _I'll have to leave some money behind. I know that they're far too proud to take it on their own accord._

Remus, who sat next to Sirius, made faces at the boys across from him as he ate - Neville, Ron, and Harry watched with giggles as he screwed up his face time and time again. They got even louder with their laughter when Sirius elbowed Remus hard in the ribs, trying to get him to be a better role model. When _that_ didn't work, Sirius decided to join Remus in the funny face making contest. _I never thought Remus would love working with children. This lady that he's been dating... she's good for him. He would have never let loose like this. I love seeing Moony so happy. He's so... carefree. It's almost like before,_ thought Sirius, pushing the depression out of his mind. He couldn't think about _before;_ this wasn't before. This was Harry's eighth birthday. This was life _after_ what happened _before_. He wouldn't let the memories consume him tonight.

After dinner, Harry and Neville - much to his surprise - both received several presents... mostly on the behalf of Remus and Dumbledore. Both boys received a lovely scarf that Molly had knitted. Harry's scarf were his two favorite colors (at least his favorite colors for the past month) - purple and yellow. Neville's scarf was a traditional red and gold color; an homage to his parents house at Hogwarts, and likely where he would end up. Although it was still July, both boys donned them immediately, making Molly reach for a napkin to dab her eyes.

From Remus, both boys received books about magical studies for young children their ages. Harry and Neville both immediately flipped them open, eyes wide as the pictures in the books came to life. "This is great!" they chimed in unison. From Dumbledore, Harry received a new bowtie. This bowtie was not magical, rather it was made of fine silk; it was a golden color with silver stitching. Neville received a remberall. Augusta clapped her hands together nicely, a smile on her face. She had spoken to Dumbledore ages ago about worries for her grandson, and this had been one of them. Harry was pleased with his bowtie, and he immediately pulled the magical one he was wearing off and put the new bowtie on.

"Handsome as always," Arthur Weasley told Harry as he adjusted the bowtie. Harry's grin was unmistakable. _I've no idea where he got that sense of fashion, but he can pull it off. He's cocky as all get out, but at least he's cute,_ Sirius reasoned.

After cake - which had ended with Fred and George smashing pieces in to each others face and flinging the icing that clung to their faces at their other brothers - it was time to go. Harry hugged every last person that was present, continuing to thank them for all of the birthday presents and dinner and fun that he had that day. As he rested his chin on Sirius' shoulder, he closed his eyes for the floo home.

Tucking Harry in to bed, Harry hugged on to Sirius' neck tightly. "Sirius, today was maybe the best birthday I could have had. I have so many people that love me and care. I have so many good friends."

"Yes you do, Harry," Sirius agreed, kissing his godson on the forehead.

"I wish I could just stay in this moment forever. I used to think, when I lived with my aunt an' uncle, that I would never have this love... this is almost normal. I miss my mom and dad, but... thank you for showing me this," he whispered, closing his eyes with a heavy sigh.

"I'll do anything for you, pup," Sirius said, shutting off the light as he wiped a tear off his cheek. _I can't imagine Harry not being loved. Those muggles..._

Sirius sighed and let himself out of Harry's room. He slowly walked downstairs and poured himself a glass of fire whiskey. "Prongs," he whispered as he lifted the drink to his lip, shaking his head slowly as it burned his throat on the way down, "I hope that I'm doing okay by you guys. I'm doing the best I can."


	19. Nineteen

"Sirius! Get up!"

Sirius' eyes opened slowly, blinking several times as they focused on the illuminated light coming from the alarm clock. His eyes then focused on who had woken him up - it hadn't been Harry. "Fuck, Moony. It's 1:33 in the morning. Go away, you bloody git." With a yawn, Sirius rolled onto his stomach and pulled the pillow close to his chest.

"Padfoot, now is _not the time_ , you insufferable dog!" Sirius hadn't even had time to open his eyes in response to that when a resounding _smack!_ echoed through his bedroom, the back of his head stinging.

"Bloody hell, you fucking werewolf! What the fuck is wrong with you?" Sirius exclaimed, letting a trail of expletives string from his lips as he rolled over and swung his arm at Remus, missing by an inch.

"You _need_ to get up."

"WHY?" Sirius' voice rose, almost not caring if he woke Harry up at this point. "DID YOU GET THAT GIRL BLOODY PREGNANT?"

Remus seemed to ignore his question, his fingers pressing against the bridge of his nose. "This is not going as planned. Dumbledore has summed us. There's a mission that we need to go on."

"At 1-1:35 in the fucking morning?"

"Yes."

"Tell Dumbledore he can suck my-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence, Sirius Black. This is in regards to the Horcuxes."

Sirius sat up quickly, interested now. "Did we locate them?!"

"Do you really think that Voldemort would have just been like, 'oh, you know what? I know these are part of my soul, but let's just put a pile of them here for fun'? No, Padfoot." Remus' voice sounded tired.

"Well, that's not very nice of him, is it?" Sirius asked, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. Remus stepped back, wary of his friend's mood. He knew that Sirius didn't like to be woken up, but this was important. Sirius should understand that.

"Dumbledore said," Remus stated, ignoring Sirius' sarcasm, "That we need to gather a bag for Harry - probably a week's worth of stuff, I'd wager-"

"Harry is not coming with us! This is _dangerous_!"

"Correct - Harry is _not_ coming with us. We're going to Hogwarts first, to be filled in on some of the details that Dumbledore has."

"Who is going on this mission?"

"You, and me."

"But... Harry? Who will watch him?"

"Sirius. Dumbledore is requesting our presence. Get dressed and I'll start packing a bag for Harry."

Sirius rolled his eyes as Moony stormed out of the bedroom. He changed quickly into a pair of black pants and a black shirt. Running a hand through his hair, he decided against doing anything with the mess. Besides, the mess on Sirius' head never was anywhere near what James' or Harry's hair looked like. _I should probably have a bag for myself,_ Sirius reminded himself. He picked up a small messenger bag that was hanging on his closet door; the inside had been expanded by magic, and a lightweight spell had been added to it. Sirius placed three pairs of pants and several more shirts into the bag. An extra pair of shoes, along with some hygiene supplies went in next.

Happy with what he had chosen, Sirius moved stealthily down the hallway to Harry's room. Remus was packing a similar messenger bag of stuff for Harry to have to wear. Sirius tossed Remus one of Harry's favorite cuddles and nodded his head.

"All set, Moons?" Sirius asked, getting a better look at Remus' outfit. It was only two days since Harry's birthday, but the scars on Remus' face still looked fresh. He was also dressed in all black. _I guess that makes sense; we won't be seen while we're walking up to Hogwarts..._

"Yes, Sirius. Thanks for joining the world of the living. Grab Harry and we'll go by floo to Dumbledore's office."

Sirius placed a hand under Harry's head and under his hip before pulling him up into his arms. "Shh," he murmured to the sleeping boy who protested before going limp in Sirius' arms again. "Merlin, Remus, he's getting heavy," he grumbled as he headed towards the floo.

"That's what happens as they age." Remus' voice was dry and matter of fact. Sirius recalled that Remus also did not like being awoken from sleep. _I probably shouldn't have given him such a hard time. Besides, the full moon is coming up. He's probably dreading that._

Sirius entered the floo network, Remus fast behind him. Sirius stepped out into Dumbledore's office. Harry hadn't woken, which was a pleasant surprise. Remus stepped out of the floo just seconds later, still clutching Harry's bag. The candles that were lit eerily illuminated Dumbledore's office. Sirius looked at Remus who shrugged; he wasn't sure what to do since Dumbledore wasn't present.

Sirius and Remus both sat in the chairs that were in front of Dumbledore's large desk. "Are you sure that he wanted us to come _right now_?"

"Yes," Remus said with certainty, running a hand through his hair.

Before Sirius could respond to Remus, the entrance to Dumbledore's office swung open. Dumbledore strode in, not looking like he was tired or had lost any sleep. A somewhat angry Severus Snape, also dressed in all black, entered behind him, his black hair acting as a curtain for his eyes. _Oh, bloody Merlin. Dumbledore's lost his mind if he thinks that I'll be going on a mission with the traitor._

"Relax, Sirius," Dumbledore said as he motioned for Severus to sit next to Sirius. The two men nodded at each other, but said nothing.

There was a silence that hung in the air between the four men and the sleeping child in Sirius' arms. Sirius blinked his eyes twice, wishing that he could be back in bed at this very moment. He had been having a rather nice dream that Remus had interrupted, although it seemed that Remus was just as annoyed as he was.

"Can you get on with why you felt compelled to wake me up?" Severus asked, his voice drawing out the syllables in his word. _Oooh, Snivellus is annoyed too,_ Sirius thought gleefully.

"Right," Dumbledore agreed with a nod. "Sirius, I believe I located the first Horcrux. It's a diary that belonged to Mr. Riddle when he was a student here at Hogwarts. I've had it on good word that it's located in an antiques store in Algeria. Unfortunately, the dealer is unwilling to part with it for me. He doesn't want to send it. I want you and Remus to head down there, spend a week or so scouting the area out, building contacts. And then I want you to have one of them lead you to the dealer - Andrew Christoff -"

"Christoff doesn't sound like the name of a wizard from Africa," Remus said slowly, eyes looking like darts.

"No," Dumbledore admitted. "He is thought to have been a financial backer of Voldemort during the war. He is originally from here, but fled to Algeria after the fall of Voldemort. That's why we have reason to believe that this diary is the real deal. He's asking a pretty sum for it." With that, Dumbledore pushed a pouch of money across the table. Sirius snatched it up, placing it in his messenger bag without looking at the amount.

"So, we should be back in a week?"

"It depends on how long it takes for you to gain Christoff's trust to purchase the diary. I've procured a couple of back stories for you, to help make the transition easier. And I don't believe that I need to remind you, but you need to be absolutely discreet in the handling of this matter." He held out a small manilla folder out for Remus to take. Remus thanked him and clutched it to his chest.

Sirius nodded his head, feeling the excitement grow in his stomach. It had been years since he had been able to go on secret missions. They were exhilarating. You never knew what was going to happen, or if you were going to come ho- _You're coming home, Black. You have a god son. You promised Lily and James that you would look after him forever. You're not going to go on a stupid mission and die, so take that thought from your head._

"Why is it," Snape drawled, his arms crossed over his chest, "That you felt the need to wake me? I can assure you that the mutt and wolf can handle this themselves."

Dumbledore ignored the stab at Remus and Sirius. "Of course they can!" His voice was bright and light. "But, someone needs to watch Harry."

"You've gone mad. Absolutely not!"

Dumbledore's blue eyes twinkled, almost as if they were on fire. "Severus, remember the promise that you made..." There was a hint of a warning in his tone, but it was clear that Dumbledore found this conversation to be over with.

"Fine," Severus said, standing abruptly. "Are you bringing him, or what, dog?"

Sirius stood up, a glance to Dumbledore before following Snape out of the office. Remus followed the two men, although he was reading the cover story as he walked.

Sirius had never been to Snape's quarters, or the quarters of the Potions master previously. He felt on edge as he descended stair after stair, the walls appearing more damp the lower they went. _I guess that this fits for Snivellus,_ he thought, hugging Harry closer. Snape murmured a password too low for Sirius to hear as he stepped into the quarters of the potion master.

The quarters were actually warmer and more inviting than Sirius would have expected. Save for all of the silver and green, they appeared to be somewhere that Sirius wouldn't mind living. The living area was nicely decorated, and Sirius could see a kitchen off of the living area. Two doors hid rooms behind them, directly across from the writing desk that Snape had next to his couch.

"This will be Potter's room," Severus sneered as he opened the door to the left. A small twin bed adored in silver and green was placed against the wall. There was a small dresser next to the window. Overall, it was bare but it would suffice for a week or two.

Sirius laid Harry down on the bed, kissing his forehead. "Pup," he said softly, shaking the boy awake.

Harry stirred, his hand rubbing at his eyes. "Sirius? What's wrong?"

Sirius kneeled down next to the bed, his hand on Harry's stomach. "Remus and I have to go away for a little bit. Just a week or two, it sounds like. I didn't know about, or I'd have told you before now," Sirius promised, afraid that Harry would have a meltdown. He and Harry hadn't spent much time apart since Sirius had invited Harry into his home.

"I don't want you to go," whimpered Harry.

"I don't want to go either. But Professor Snape will take good care of you. I promise," Sirius whispered, standing up. He kissed Harry's cheek again, ruffling Harry's hair. "You're at Hogwarts. Professor Snape - please listen to him, Harry. If there's a problem, you can talk to Professor Dumbledore." Harry nodded, his eyes filling with tears. "We'll be back soon, pup." _That's a promise. I'm never leaving you again. Not like before._

Sirius kissed Harry's cheek once again, and then watched as Remus did the same. Remus whispered something to Harry that Sirius couldn't catch, but then turned and motioned that they should leave. Snape was sitting comfortably on his sofa, flicking his wand when the two entered.

"Be gentle with him. If i find one hair out of place..."

Severus rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to hurt the boy." _I don't believe that for a second, but I have to so that I can do this mission._ "Now, please leave my quarters. I'll surely see you when you're back," Severus said, knowingly.

Remus clasped Sirius on the shoulder and steered him out of the dungeons. "We're to walk to Hogsmede and then apparate to Algeria. There's a small town listed," he said, fumbling with the folder.

"We'll look when we get there," Sirius said, waving his hand at Remus.

The two men walked in silence towards the little village that had become Sirius' home. _This feels weird. This feels different than missions before. I mean, I would have never been sent on missions with Remus - we were two completely different forces... It feels weird to be going on a mission without James, but I also know that in some ways, it's for James... so he won't have died in vain. I really hope I'm doing this parenting thing right. I hope that he doesn't look down and think what a moron I am._

"I'm kind of scared," Sirius admitted, stealing a glance at Remus' profile.

"Me too, Pads. It feels that there's more at stake this time."

"We have to come back; we promised Lily and James that we would take care of him, no matter what."

"Then I guess we have to do this perfectly. We can't get caught."

Sirius nodded his head, feeling sick to his stomach. _Maybe it's been too long since we've successfully run a mission. But Dumbledore wouldn't send us off if he thought we couldn't handle it..._

When the two men reached Hogsmede, Remus produced the name of the town they were supposed to apparate to. There was an address that was written down - supposedly a safe house that they would be staying in. Linking arms with one another, they disappeared into the dark as if they had never been there before.


End file.
